Kate’s 2¢: “Lily Of The Mohawks” by Jack Casey

“Lily Of The Mohawks” by Jack Casey

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Madelyn Buzzard did a good job of narrating this Native American story for us. One take away is how humans have been cruel and nasty to each other for centuries and we don’t seem to learn anything from it.

    In the author’s introduction, I appreciated the brief history of the natives and the land, but the up-dated history about her being Sainted, should have come after the tale had been told.

From the WEB:

CASEY is from Troy, NY, a burnt-out mill city across the Hudson from Albany. He left Troy for a decade to attend Yale and Edinburgh Universities, paint houses in California, teach at a prestigious Connecticut boarding school and hitchhike through America, Europe and Mexico.

Back in Troy, Jack earned a law license and spent three decades in the trenches, litigating in state and federal courts and advising state legislators on law and politics. Through these and other pursuits – laborer, bartender, news reporter – he’s met hundreds of memorable characters, and he enjoys turning his experience into novels, short stories and songs.

Jack answered a lifelong question about what rules human destiny, coincidence or fate, when he met Victoria on a Manhattan elevator. They were married just before the pandemic and now split their time between upstate New York and Raleigh, NC, living happily ever after.

   CASEY has handled civil, criminal and constitutional cases in his solo law practi

He counseled New York State legislators part-time and watched as ambitious politicians rose and fell. Casey now brings his insider’s perspective to the rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

Casey has 12 books on Goodreads with 2750 ratings. Jack Casey’s most popular book is Hamilton’s Choice.

From NLS/BAARD/LOC:

Lily of the Mohawks DB22440

Author: Casey, Jack

Reading Time: 12 hours, 56 minutes

Read by: Madelyn Buzzard

Subject: Historical Fiction

Downloaded: 11/03/2025

A historical novel based on the seventeenth-century life of Kateri Tekakwitha, daughter of a Mohawk chief and witness to savagery that drove her from the campfires of her people to the light of Catholicism. Kateri has been nominated for canonization as the first native American saint. Some strong language, some descriptions of sex, and some violence.

Toronto ; New York : Bantam Books, 1984.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Widow Lake” by Rita B. Herron

“Widow Lake” by Rita B. Herron

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   In general, I like a female narrator to read a story written by a female author using a female protagonist, however, Stephen Van Doren did an excellent job of performing this Detective Ellie Reese novel. The various voices he dused for the different characters were very believable.

   It is frightening to realize how influential teachers can be, especially if they are evil and doing more harm than good.

From the web:

USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Rita Herron fell in love with books at the ripe age of eight when she read her first Trixie Belden mystery. But she didn’t think real people grew up to be writers, so she became a teacher instead. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job!

With over ninety books to her credit, she’s penned romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and YA stories, but she especially loves writing dark romantic suspense tales set in southern small towns.

Rita is represented by Jenny Bent with the Bent Agency.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Widow Lake DB128405

Series: Detective Ellie Reeves

Order in Series: 08

Author: Herron, Rita B.

Reading Time: 8 hours, 42 minutes

Read by: Van Doren, Stephen

Subjects: Mystery and Detective Stories, Suspense Fiction

Downloaded: 09/10/2025

“On the hottest day of the year, as a heatwave takes hold of the Appalachian Mountains, a five-year-old girl goes missing. Just as the sun is setting, a family vacation becomes a worst nightmare–Betsy, with her green eyes, ponytail and rainbow t-shirt–disappears in the woods by Widow Lake. Detective Ellie Reeves is straight on the scene, promising Betsy’s heartbroken parents that she will stop at nothing to find their precious daughter. Hours later, Ellie is called back to the lake. One of her team have discovered some remains near where Betsy disappeared. The bones belong to a local girl, Amy Dean, who vanished ten years ago to the day, along with her two-year-old baby girl Paisley. But why was Paisley never reported missing? And could she still be alive? Ellie is suddenly up against the toughest case of her career. Her instincts tell her that the two cases are somehow connected, and she works day and night to uncover the link. When she comes across some little graves beside the water’s edge, she knows she needs to stop the evil lurking around this tranquil lake. When Ellie discovers a notebook scrawled with the handwriting of a little girl, it could be the breakthrough she needs. Can she unravel a decades-old mystery, and stop the monster claiming innocent lives?” — Goodreads. Violence and some strong language.

[London] : Bookouture, 2023.

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