Forget me not blues
I'm delighted to host author Aaron Paul Lazar's latest book, Lady Blues, as it tours with Innovative Online Book Tours today. Forget me not, says the subtitle, and forget me not say the wonderful characters too.I've enjoyed reading lots of books from Mr. Lazar's novel series, not least because he writes from the point of view of very real characters, frequently ones who've already experienced enough of life to have something worthwhile to say. Gus LeGarde, the protagonist of Lady Blues, is no exception--husband, father, grandfather, musician, professor... all-around good guy, and not too bad at solving the odd mystery and escaping threats of death in his spare time. So please read on for a book blurb, review, author bio, and even a first-chapter excerpt! Enjoy.
REVIEW:
I’m already hooked on author Aaron Paul Lazar’s
Gus LeGarde mysteries, and Lady Blues is another great addition to the
series. As always, music plays a key role in the story, and plays it most
evocatively. An elderly Alzheimer’s patient, on meeting Gus LeGarde, exhibits that quirk of
memory whereby past music is more real than present pain. But
octogenarian Kip's present pain is soon to be alleviated by a new drug.
Gus is privy to the old man's delightful awakening, with memories of World War II,
and Bella, and the Blues. Soon he's wondering, could this man’s past even hold the key to
answering a long-debated musical mystery?
The Genesee valley is beautifully described in this novel, with evocative scenery, and an honest sense of friction between Gus’s feelings for his well-tended garden, and the stark failed landscaping of cheap business practices. But business practice will affect more than the landscape in this tale. Small-town disaster leaves a quiet woman homeless. Small-business troubles leave an old man sliding back into forgetfulness. And small tendrils of concern grow into serious investigation and serious danger as Gus takes charge.
I love the characters of these stories, drawn with enough depth that they can change and grow from novel to novel while still feeling like well-remembered friends. But there’s no need to read the earlier novels before enjoying this one. Start wherever you choose, wander in the valley’s sunshine and scenery, rest in its small-town homeliness, meet Gus, make friends with Sig and co, and watch love grow while solving exciting mysteries.
The Genesee valley is beautifully described in this novel, with evocative scenery, and an honest sense of friction between Gus’s feelings for his well-tended garden, and the stark failed landscaping of cheap business practices. But business practice will affect more than the landscape in this tale. Small-town disaster leaves a quiet woman homeless. Small-business troubles leave an old man sliding back into forgetfulness. And small tendrils of concern grow into serious investigation and serious danger as Gus takes charge.
I love the characters of these stories, drawn with enough depth that they can change and grow from novel to novel while still feeling like well-remembered friends. But there’s no need to read the earlier novels before enjoying this one. Start wherever you choose, wander in the valley’s sunshine and scenery, rest in its small-town homeliness, meet Gus, make friends with Sig and co, and watch love grow while solving exciting mysteries.
Disclosure: I was delighted to read a copy of this novel before its release, and again afterward.
BLURB:
Past and present collide when an Alzheimer’s patient’s fragile
memory holds the key to solving mysteries dating back to World War II—including
a long lost secret love affair.
Music professor Gus LeGarde is just doing a favor for a friend
when he agrees to play piano for church services at a local nursing home. He
doesn’t expect to be drawn into a new friendship with an elderly Alzheimer’s
patient dubbed “the music man” or to stumble across a decades-old mystery
locked inside the man’s mind.
Octogenarian Kip Sterling doesn’t know his own name—but he
speaks Gus’s language, spouting jazz terms like “cadence” and “interlude” and
“riff.” He’s also obsessed with “his Bella,” but nobody knows who she is.
When Kip is given a new drug called Memorphyl, he starts to
remember bits and pieces of his life. Gus learns Bella was Kip’s first and only
love, but their relationship was shrouded in scandal. Intrigued, Gus agrees to
help search for her. Could she still be alive?
Horrified when the miracle
drug suddenly stops working and patients begin to backslide, Gus panics. Can he
help Kip find his beloved Bella before his newfound memories disappear?
AUTHOR BIO:
Aaron Paul
Lazar writes to soothe his soul. The author of three mystery series, Lazar
enjoys the Genesee Valley countryside in upstate New York, where his characters
embrace life, play with their dogs and grandkids, grow sumptuous gardens, and
chase bad guys. Visit his website at
ONLINE LINKS:
• Website http://www.lazarbooks.com
• Facebook
Name: AaronPaulLazar
• Twitter
Name :
@aplazar
• Amazon Author
Page: http://www.amazon.com/Aaron-Paul-Lazar/e/B001JOZR2M/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
BUY
NOW LINKS:
FIRST CHAPTER:
Chapter One
I strolled along Main Street with
Siegfried, my best friend and brother-in-law, unable to shake the song
repeating in my head. I’d played it for my Opera 101 class yesterday at school,
and since then, kept hearing Marcelo Alvarez singing “Che gelida manina,” from La Boheme. Because Camille and I had
seen him perform in this role last fall in New York City, it made me long for
Lincoln Center, or at least a really good hot pastrami sandwich from a decent
deli.
Why I thought of
food at that particular moment was a mystery, because we’d just finished a big
breakfast of scrambled eggs, home fries, and bacon at Clara’s Diner. I shrugged
and let the warm spring air caress my face and bare arms. The sun felt good
after the lingering cold of March. I reveled in the feeling of freedom, happy to
have no appointments or chores looming in the near future, and looking forward
to a leisurely stop in the village bookstore.
A warm breeze
teased across the Genesee Valley, filling me with a curious sense of
exhilaration. Just past the bagel shop, from the top of the ridge where our
historic village of Conaroga, New York perched, I stopped for a minute to enjoy
the view. Rolling hills swelled in the distance, coated green with winter
wheat.
I wanted to stay
put and soak it all in, but Siegfried was rapidly disappearing into the crowded
street. With his blond ponytail swaying behind him, his long legs ate up the
ground.
Wondering what's going on...? Well, soon we find out...
I smelled it before
I saw it, then looked up.
Smoke.
It poured from the
upper floor where Thom Kim lived with his sister, Lily. Although the street
teemed with people, no one seemed to have noticed the smoke. We careened along
the sidewalk, pushing through shoppers and students.
Cursing because I
left my cell phone in the car, I grabbed the nearest student texting on his
phone. He stared at me through black dreadlocks as if I were attacking him.
Which I guess I was, in a way.
I pointed up. “Call
911. Tell them there’s a fire.”
The crowd parted,
staring and pointing at the smoky building. The boy with the phone gawked at
me, as if locked in a trance.
I shook his arm.
“Call 911!”
In that instant, he
came to life, stabbing at his phone. “Okay. I’m on it.”
Siegfried and I
rushed into the building. No one stood behind the sales counter or in the work
area in the back of the shop.
“Where are they?” I
said, hurriedly searching behind doors and cabinets.
“Upstairs,”
Siegfried said with certainty, pointing toward a back staircase.
We scrambled toward
the stairs, entering a cloud of thick, choking smoke.
A woman’s cry came
from above.
“Lily!” Siegfried
shouted, covering his mouth and nose with his shirt. He scaled the steps two at
a time with me right behind him.
A hoarse bellow
came from the left in what had to be Korean, Thom’s native language. Out of the
corner of my eye, I saw a flash of movement, followed by a burning rafter
crashing to the floor, but smoke quickly obscured my view.
A flicker of orange
flames bloomed in another doorway, flaring to the ceiling. The fire was
spreading fast.
“Professor,”
Siegfried yelled over the roar of the inferno, peering into the darkness. “I
can’t see!”
On the far side of
the building, a window cracked and exploded, allowing the smoke to shift and
clear just enough to give us a view of the bedroom, where I now headed to
search for Thom Kim.
“There!” I said,
pointing to the man pinned beneath a fallen timber.
Fire crackled along
the wall and licked orange-red near his arm. The bed, fully engulfed, leapt
with flames.
A scream erupted
farther down the hall.
Lily.
“Get her!” I
shouted over my shoulder, stumbling toward Thom.
Siegfried quickly
ducked into the smoke, following the direction of her cries.
The wall of heat
blasted me, nearly melting my resolve. Stooping low, I took a deep breath and
crawled toward Thom. I pulled hard on his arm, but couldn’t budge him. He
uttered a low moan. The fire had reached him and his sleeve was starting to
burn.
Grabbing his jacket
from a nearby chair, I slapped it over his arms, extinguishing the flames, then
kicked repeatedly at the scorched beam until it finally moved. Breathless, I
half-dragged, half-carried Thom out to the hall, stumbling backwards away from
the fire and denser smoke. With a concerted effort, I slung him over my
shoulder.
A blast came from
the rear of the building.
Oh my God. Siegfried. Lily.
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