The Patron Saint of Desperate Situations John Harrigan 9781479238491 Books
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A mystery built around the plane crash that killed progressive U. S. Senator Paul Wellstone in 2002. An immigrant single mom from Brazil, Sonia, suspects foul play in the plane crash. Spurned by the police, she seeks help from Jake, a reserved businessman who shares none of her beliefs about Wellstone but who falls for her Latin charms. Soon the two of them are fleeing for their lives across the frosty landscape of Minnesota, and Sonia needs all the guidance her patron saint can give.
The Patron Saint of Desperate Situations John Harrigan 9781479238491 Books
It had some interesting twists considering its take on the Paul Wellstone plane crash. It was an ok read, but not spellbinding.Product details
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Tags : The Patron Saint of Desperate Situations [John Harrigan] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A mystery built around the plane crash that killed progressive U. S. Senator Paul Wellstone in 2002. An immigrant single mom from Brazil,John Harrigan,The Patron Saint of Desperate Situations,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,147923849X,FICTION Mystery & Detective Historical
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The Patron Saint of Desperate Situations John Harrigan 9781479238491 Books Reviews
Sonia, a sultry single mother from Brazil and financial planner Jake meet by chance at a dinner and Jake is smitten from the beginning. It soon becomes clear however that their meeting was not a chance encounter at all and that both of their lives are in serious danger because of the shady dealings of a mutual friend who had appeared to be as straight as an arrow to Jake. What's worse, the bad guys seem all too willing to use Sonia's son to try and get what they want. A desperate situation indeed faces our two heroes especially until they figure out what the thugs actually want. These are two people trying to simultaneously deal with a mystery and a budding romance while being chased by murderous thugs and all the while trying to figure out whom they can trust. To make matters even more desperate Jake's business is suffering from his absence and the police are seriously looking at the two as suspects in a murder.
Sonia turns to Saint Jude the Patron Saint of desperate situations and lost and impossible causes as the pair searches for a solution to their mountain of problems. St. Jude, a blood relative of Jesus has long been called upon by Christians who faced what appeared to be insurmountable odds and is most commonly known today because of the hospital in Memphis named for him. It was due to his patronage of desperate situations that Danny Thomas decided to name his research hospital for children's cancer for St. Jude. It is indeed fitting that a dedicated mother like Sonia would feel drawn to this ancient Saint of the Church.
This is John Harrigan's first novel and it is a fantastic start. The characters that he has created are very believable and are brought to life in a very vivid way. To me, a fiction author who can make the reader really worry about and care for the characters in a book has found his calling and John Harrigan does that in this book. Like most of us the characters aren't purely good or purely evil and even some of the worst characters have their good points. The heroes are also quite less than perfect and no matter how beautiful she is I am of the opinion that Sonia would be a hard woman to live with. By the end of the book in fact I didn't really care for her but I was still concerned for her safety. Not many authors could inspire this duality of emotions and I was frankly amazed to find myself feeling this way.
This is an extremely well written thriller, mystery and love story that kept me enthralled from beginning to end. I couldn't seem to put this book down and in fact it took me longer to figure out how I could do this book justice in a review than it took for me to devour it. I can't wait for more!
Disclaimer - I received a copy from the author who asked for a review (thanks, John). Reading is a holistic experience encompassing elements like title, cover, font, characters, plot, mood, language and dislogue. In this case I mentally gave an A+ to the title (perfect) but an F to the cover. It shrieks "Harlequin", a put off for many readers. Then there is the plot - can it capture the attention of the average reader? In this case, the answer would have to be "No".
A Google search on "Wellstone murder" got 118,000 hits. In Conpiracy Land, assassination chatter is downright normal with residents firmly convinced ("inside sources...") that evildoers caused the accident by a host of nefarious means - EMP, long-range sensors, inside payoffs. The problem is that outside Minnesota he was unknown. His legacy is (sadly) that tacky funeral cum political rally. He waxed more Populist than hard Leftist and his colleagues put up with his pantry of unpopular causes, humorously suggesting they were as much a matter of publicity as conviction.
Anyhoo, his plane crashed and Sonia, our Brazilian bombshell, is convinced that it was an iside job after overhearing comments by a business man. Caricature is a hallmark of mysteries (we like regularity) so there's the evil rich guy, the liberal crusader, the noble foreign outsider with a handicapped child, the befuddled male who is drawn in despite himself, the odl friend who betrays, etc. Some romantic actions made no sense - Sonia's anger at her rescue (twice) because our hero shot someone. Why leave him now after danger has passed? And worse, why return at the end so that we could have a "and they all lived happily ever after" conclusion?
The twin tales never really merged. A quirky investigation into a possible assassination would have been a good thriler on its own. So would a story about stopping a powerful businessman and his machinations to develop virgin land for greedy purposes. Their linkage was tenuous at best and seemed forced. The other problem was authenticity - parts of the story (the Minnesota parts) rang true, others sounded like classic Novelese, that filler language seen in mysteries. The second half was a huge improvment with the chase scenes, romance, final confrontation and at last, the discovery of the REAL secret. At the end, all the characters recede into the background, forgotten, except for the young boy. Rodrigo's childlike innocence remains with the reader, haunting, asking for more.
Jake Morgan is no James Bond. He’s a thoughtful, cautious financial planner living in Minnesota, where, as we know, everybody’s above average. And way above average, for a Minnesotan, is Sonia Lindquist who, despite that name, is an exotic beauty from Brazil. She’s single and lonely. Jake’s single and lonely. She is art. Jake is commerce. She enjoys a drink. Jake takes his sobriety day by day. She has a troubled boy to raise. He might make a good step-dad.
This novel might have been a romance, except for the death by plane crash of U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone. Sonia, who’s often intemperate, assails a rich man who exults in the liberal senator’s death. The rich man might even have, Sonia believes, caused Wellstone’s plane to crash.
That conspiracy theory, and the murder of a friend/client of Jake’s, turns what would have been a pure romance into a mystery-thriller. These elements, romance, mystery and thriller are blended with a sure hand as the story grows more menacing and complex. The danger plays out nicely against the serene-and-clean backdrop of the Twin Cities.
At one point I believed that the danger was so great that Sonia and Jake would be compelled to flee to Brazil. But they stay to battle and outwit the thugs who are after both money and secrets they believe Sonia has.
“Patron Saint” is an enjoyable few hours in the company of likeable characters who, well … no spoilers … let’s just say that their situation was desperate indeed.
It had some interesting twists considering its take on the Paul Wellstone plane crash. It was an ok read, but not spellbinding.
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