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Kath Russell

Kath Russell

About

KathRussell enjoyed over thirty-five years in marketing and communicationsmanagement in the biotechnology industry. She was an executive with one of thefirst genetic engineering companies. Russell also was president ofRussell-Welsh Strategic Life Science Communications, Inc., and founder andchief executive officer of an ecommerce company offering services for maturecompanion animals and veterinarians. Russell received her bachelor’s degreefrom Northwestern University, her master’s degree in journalism from BostonUniversity, her master’s of business administration from the Kellogg School ofManagement, and earned her certificate in creative writing from the UCLAExtension Writers' Program.

The Sons of Godwine: Part Two of The Last Great Saxon Earls

The Sons of Godwine: Part Two of The Last Great Saxon Earls

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<p>Emerging from the long shadow cast by his formidable father, Harold Godwineson showed himself to be a worthy successor to the Earldom of Wessex. In the following twelve years, he became the King's most trusted advisor, practically taking the reins of government into his own hands. And on Edward the Confessor's death, Harold Godwineson mounted the throne—the first king of England not of royal blood. Yet Harold was only a man, and his rise in fortune was not blameless. Like any person aspiring to power, he made choices he wasn't particularly proud of. Unfortunately, those closest to him sometimes paid the price of his fame.<br /><br />This is a story of Godwine's family as told from the viewpoint of Harold and his younger brothers. Queen Editha, known for her Vita Ædwardi Regis, originally commissioned a work to memorialize the deeds of her family, but after the Conquest historians tell us she abandoned this project and concentrated on her husband, the less dangerous subject. In THE SONS OF GODWINE and FATAL RIVALRY, I am telling the story as it might have survived had she collected and passed on the memoirs of her tragic brothers.<br /><br />This book is part two of The Last Great Saxon Earls series. Book one, GODWINE KINGMAKER, depicted the rise and fall of the first Earl of Wessex who came to power under Canute and rose to preeminence at the beginning of Edward the Confessor's reign. Unfortunately, Godwine's misguided efforts to champion his eldest son Swegn recoiled on the whole family, contributing to their outlawry and Queen Editha's disgrace. Their exile only lasted one year and they returned victorious to London, though it was obvious that Harold's career was just beginning as his father's journey was coming to an end.<br /><br />Harold's siblings were all overshadowed by their famous brother; in their memoirs we see remarks tinged sometimes with admiration, sometimes with skepticism, and in Tostig's case, with jealousy. We see a Harold who is ambitious, self-assured, sometimes egocentric, imperfect, yet heroic. His own story is all about Harold, but his brothers see things a little differently. Throughout, their observations are purely subjective, and witnessing events through their eyes gives us an insider’s perspective.<br /><br />Harold was his mother's favorite, confident enough to rise above petty sibling rivalry but Tostig, next in line, was not so lucky. Harold would have been surprised by Tostig's vindictiveness, if he had ever given his brother a second thought. And that was the problem. Tostig's love/hate relationship with Harold would eventually destroy everything they worked for, leaving the country open to foreign conquest. This subplot comes to a crisis in book three of the series, FATAL RIVALRY.</p>

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A Pointed Death is a very well written, compelling mystery that brings together murder, corporate intrigue, bioscience, and one truly fine pointer dog named Skootch. In the interest of full disclosure, I must reveal that the author was kind enough to provide me with a copy of her book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I must also state that I have never given a five star rating to a first time author with a self published novel. This one is truly deserving. <br /><br />I started this book with much trepidation. I know nothing about the biotechnology business or finance, two areas that play a large role in this story. For the first thirty pages or so, I was feeling a bit lost as the author seemed to be providing me with too much information. It wasn't long however until her characters of Nola, Janie Belle, and of course Skootch had me completely invested in the story. When Nola discovered a headless body that just happened to belong to a disgraced ex-employee, I was intrigued. When she met Harrison, fraud detective with caramel eyes, I was even more intrigued. When she started playing amateur sleuth and began discovering all the intricate threads that connected into a very ugly web of corporate and international crime I was totally hooked. <br /><br />The author has a very readable writing style that flows well. She infuses her story with quite a bit of humour, often provided by Skootch the totally lovable dog. Nola is a fierce middle aged woman, often despairing of her current situations, but ever confident in her own abilities. She's a great character; a woman of intelligence and talent who steadfastly refuses to take herself too seriously. Her relationship with Harrison was very nicely portrayed in a way that added further unexpected depth to Nola's character. <br /><br />The author obviously loves San Francisco as she includes a lot of descriptions of the city and it's surroundings. I was initially a bit put off by this, but soon came to appreciate the role the city played in the story. Her descriptions are so well done she has essentially created another character. By the end, I felt that I had actually been there. <br /><br />As with all mysteries, in the end, the plot is the thing, and that is perhaps what surprised me most about this book. It is just expertly paced and plotted. There were no gaping holes of implausibility, no chapters that should have been left out or repetition of facts, or any of those other elements that often plague first time writers. This is a great example of mystery storytelling. I now know a bit more about finance, biotech, San Francisco, Episcopal Church Services, and Pointer Dogs. I was also late for work and fixed my kids frozen pizza for dinner so I could finish this up and find out how it ended! The author states in her final acknowledgements that this is a &quot;silly escapist book&quot;. Perhaps I will only add that this is in fact a thinking person's escapist book. It was a fun ride and one that I would recommend to any mystery lover.<br /><br />Reviewed by J. Prather