No Loose Ends
by A.S. Most
published by Still Water Publications 2019
Pages 333 Price $20 paperback

This unusual novel is a mystery with many twists and turns. The basic theme is about a President of the U.S. who has a heart condition and wants to keep it a secret in order to run for a second term.  President Jack Henderson thinks that if information leaked out about his heart condition the public might not vote for him in the next election. Therefore there is an elaborate cover up.

An intricate plan designed by Sidney Curtis, Chief of Staff in the White House, is devised to have a cardiologist fly into see the president and give him an examination. A private catherization  procedure is carried out at Walter Reed Hospital.The results indicate the president does have a serious heart condition but it can be managed, at least through the campaign.

There are many key characters in the book. The name of the  cardiologist who examines the president is Dr. Jeff Olden. He flies his own private plane into Washington, but it mysteriously crashes on his way home. Dr. Alan Seilbolt, his medical partner in cardiology is another key character. Seilbolt was a CIA agent before he became a heart specialist and he feels that his friend, Dr. Jeff Olden, has been killed. Seilbolt is believable as he searches for clues who might have sabotaged Jeff’s plane.

Another important character in the book is Leslie Nugent. She is a reporter for a local newspaper, the “Sentinel.” She is sent to do a story on the crash of a private Cessna which has gone down and killed a heart speciaitst, Dr. Jeff Olden. Nugent and Seilbolt join forces in unraveling the mystery in search of truth.

Sidney Curtis, Chief of staff, who is a key player in the story (and we like) is killed but is replaced by Ed Covington, a wealthy supporter of President Henderson, and a ruthless industrialist, who is a  close friend of the president. Covington likes to run the show and is into total control. He has run his own industry for years and is used to giving orders.

One person he can’t control is Jennifer Henderson, the president’s wife. However he knows she has renewed an old friendship with an old flame, Howard Westlake, and he is watching her closely. The wife of the president, is mature, savvy, and loves her husband, but has had many gentleman friends in the past. In order to make a new start with her marriage, protect herself from gossip, or prevent intentional blackmail, she  addresses the issue of infidelity directly with her husband.

He states, ”I don’t want to discuss it now. I accept your confession as a sign you are sincere, and that it is in the past.” He  further states, “Right now there is a political scandal coming up and I am worried that it will be worse than Watergate.” Jennifer is surprised but not shocked as she listens to her husband and tries to help him.The president reveals he knows more of what is going on politically than anyone realized including his wife Jennifer. He  tells Jennifer, “Sidney’s death may have been Ed’s way of reducing the risk of exposure.” We do not know what political exposure that Ed Covington would want to cover up.

Jack asks his wife, “ Who do we know at the Post to give the story to?” Jennifer says, “Wait lets get you reelected first.” Then she remembers Leslie Nugent, a reporter who had spoken to her before and mentions, “I have a contact with the “Sentinel” newspaper. Jack asks Jennifer to arrange a meeting with Leslie Nugent.

The President likes Leslie Nugent immediately, and tells her, he is going to give her a dynamite story but doesn’t want it printed until after he is gone one month. Leslie agrees. He gives her three audio tapes in a brief case. She leaves the White House and the story gets very exciting.

If you want to find out what is in the briefcase and if Leslie lives to tell the truth about her experience with the President in the White House, you will have to read the book. It is a riveting book about power and the abuse of power. If you like unusual twists and turns you might like it. There is an ugly rape scene at one point that was unnecessary in the story, (and is magically adjusted to quite quickly) as the story moves on to search for a conclusion of why so many deaths occurred in the plot.

What exactly was being covered up is the question; a heart condition of the president, or a wealthy industrialist given a favor for his industry, or an actual take over of the presidency. All three ideas are not clearly defined and that is both the strength and weakness of the book. Its strength is the story makes you wonder what is being covered up, and makes you turn every page to find out. Its weakness is the book does not clearly define exactly what is being covered up, but implies more than the president’s heart condition.This book is for courageous mystery book lovers who dare to take risks, but I recommend it.

***
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford
Published by Ballantine Books 2009
Pages 290 Price $15 paperback

Here is a modern classic that touches your soul. Although written in 2009, it is written about the effects of 1942, and shows the impact of the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 on civilian Japanese immigrants living in America at that time. Its theme addresses a current issue we are experiencing today dealing with the humane care of immigrants.

In this novel Henry Lee passes by an old building being demolished in 1986. Many decades ago it was once called the Panama Hotel, located at the entrance of the Japanese community in Seattle. A new owner is knocking it down to build something new. Among the rubble in the basement can be seen old artifacts of people who had to abandoned many personal things quickly at the site. Lee finds the remains of belongings of Japanese people who were sent to internment camps in 1942, as he wonders through the grounds as an older man and widower in 1986.

Henry Lee thinks back to his youth. His father stressed the importance of being an American. He had received a scholarship to go to a private school where he felt like an outsider because all the children were white. He met a girl whose name was Kaiko Okabe at the school and they established a special bond of friendship. During the chaos of being removed to an internment camp after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he lost contact with Kaiko.

As he browses through the remains of belongings in the basement of this dilapidated hotel before it is to be completely leveled to the ground, he finds a parasol that looks like the one owned by Kaiko 40 years ago and memories come back.

While visiting a sick friend in Seattle, who receives a musical record and note from Kaiko from New York, Henry finds out Kaiko is searching for any information about him and wonders if he is still alive after all these years. He is touched that she would be thinking of him.

Henry goes to New York looking for Kaiko. His Friends had given him an address where he might find her. Standing on the eighth floor in an apartment building, he stared at the door that said Kay Hatsune and knocked on it. A petite, graceful woman with light gray hair going through part of her short, modern, haircut opens the door. If you want to know if that is kaiko, Henry’s first love, you will have to read the story.

This book is more than a poignant and beautiful love story. It shows what America did to a segment of our society during  world War II in a state of hysteria over the impact of war. It  shows the collateral damage done to human beings during war. Most of all, it shows the importance of the miracle of forgiveness over time concerning the tragic aspects of war and the strength of enduring love. I recommend it to all.

— Pat Davidson Reef is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston. She received her Masters Degree at the University of Southern Maine.She taught English and Art History at Catherine McAuley High for many years. She now teaches at the University of Southern Maine in Portland in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Classic Films. She recently wrote a children’s book,”Dahlov Ipcar Artist,” and is now writing another children’s book “Bernard Langlais Revisited.”