Image from Amazon.com An investor disappears and leaves his office manager Gabriella Makenzie on the hook for his financial crimes that stretch across Europe and the Middle East. Not only are the police after her, so is one of her boss’s clients. In order to snag Gabriella first, the client kidnaps her daughter and…
Author: Christy Santo
A Review of the Never Game by Jeffrey Deaver

Colton Shaw is a “reward seeker”, someone who travels across the country helping the police and private citizens locate missing people.
His latest case has him aiding a father to locate his daughter who went missing while riding her bike. It feels like a simple case. However, before long, another person goes missing in similar circumstances. Soon, Colton is drawn into a dangerous situation where the kidnappers force their victim into becoming a survivalist just like in a popular video game. Yet instead of their character being able to come back to life like they would in a game, they instead face the real chance of dying for good. Can Colton help the police stop the mad person or will they be able to succeed in their twisted game?
This new character by author Jeffrey Deaver intrigues me and I look forward to getting to know Colton Shaw more. He is different from Lincoln Rhyme, who is both scientific and able to solve complex puzzles. Instead, Colton relies on survivalist training, training in fighting and weaponry, plus a strong education, to make him succeed in his work as a reward seeker. I like this mix when it comes to this main character and the story of this book.
Review of The Never Game by Jeffrey Deaver
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Review of Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathon Stroud
Lockwood & Co. The Screaming Staircase by Jonathon Stroud Image from Amazon.com Nasty ghosts and spirits terrorize London and, in the fifty years since, they have slowly spread across the country, terrorizing the masses. The only ones who are sensitive enough to detect ghosts and spirits and who can fight back are children. There are…
Review of The World Is Murder
https://www.amazon.com/Word-Murder-Detective-Daniel-Hawthorne/dp/0062676806/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1674939334&sr=8-5 The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz – Image from Amazon.com I have seen loads of TV series and episodes written by Anthony Horowitz. Some include( in no particular order) Collison, Foyle’s War, Midsomer Murders. Poirot, Injustice, and Magpie Murders. In all that time, I did not consider him writing books. Well, he has…
Review of Louise Penny’s Still Life
https://www.amazon.com/Still-Life-Louise-Penny/dp/0312541538/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2CHZ8IXSDZ44P&keywords=still+life+louise+penny&qid=1674937327&sprefix=still+life+%2Caps%2C239&sr=8-1 Still Life: A Novel by Louise Penny – Image from Amazon.com Some books deserve to be read slowly and savored. One such book is Still Life by Louise Penny. I got softened up by the Amazon Primes series staring Alfred Molina as Armand Gamache and by the landlord at my work who praises Penny’s…
2023 Netflix Movie JUNG_E Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCxnmfdxJ6s JUNG_E Official Trailer from Netflix’s YouTube Channel Terminally ill scientist Seo-hyun is determined to resurrect his mother, a legendary mercenary, in the form of a combat robot. Yet as great as her combat robot is, the heart of the robot, the brain cannot break an unknown barrier, so it wins her mother’s last battle….
Don’t Forget the Importance of Self-Care

Not long ago, I chose to start taking one day a week to relax. For several months now I have been working long hours and it has worn on me. During the summer, I got another insurance license in a different branch from life and health. After that, I took a month-long course on how to work an agency.
Once this came to an end, I dove into AHIP and got recertified to sell Medicare and Medicaid polices, then once that was done, the Annual Enrollment started. At the same time, I began to juggle the duties of the new line of insurance as well. By the time Christmas Eve drew near, I felt drained.
My desire to make myself relax began soon after my birthday when my Dad gave me a gift card to Orchid Esthetics. I made an appointment and I went there for my first wax on both my lower legs. Surpringly, I felt no pain and my legs felt baby soft. I also got a mini facial that I decided I should do at home, so I bought similar products to what was used in the facial.
The following week, I chose to get my hair cut as my next opportunity to relax. I thought I would stop here. However, despite taking four days off from Dec 24-28th and then from December 31 to January 2nd, the reviving I felt slipped quickly. My work hours did not change as much as I hoped.
After my Dad went to Texas for vacation, he did not return to work long before catching the flu. I also hoped a new employee would start at the office. However, she had a bad accident which broke her hand and she had surgery to repair it.
My next decision, to get vaccines I put off since July – the flu vaccine and the Omnicron vaccine. Then I chose to schedule a manicure and finally my first teeth whitening. I am planning for one only.
All these decisions have made me feel better and less burdened by long hours at work. I also know I could not keep up the pace much longer and still be efficient. I chose to share this as a blog post because it is important for all of us to take some time to care for ourselves. Sure, it is great to be busy, but it is not worth jeopardizing your sanity and health. I am glad I saw this and chose to act. If you find yourself in this spot, do consider making yourself slow down and take a breather.
Don’t Forget the Importance of Self-Care
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Rewind: The Addams Family & The Addams Family Value Movies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6X4VAHdDVg The Addams Family Movie Trailer from Paramount Movie’s YouTube Channel I saw Wednesday and I thought, the show is missing something from it. I chose to finally figure it out and rewatch The Addams Family and Addams Family Values movies that have been on Netflix since Wednesday premiered. There is not enough macabre…
Amazon Prime Video Documentary Film: VAL
I can tell you the first film I saw Val Kilmer in was 1984’s Top Secret. A blast of a movie where Kilmer portrays an American singer, Nick Rivers, on tour in Germany. He falls in love with Hillary Flammond, whose father is captured by the Germans to build a new naval mine. Nick decides to help save her father and to do so he joins an underground resistance movement to make it happen. There is nothing like Top Secret and never will be again.
Yes, there are other parody movies that have come out like it. Prior to Top Secret, we had the Air Plane movies, then just before and after the Naked Gun movies, and finally two Hot Shot movies.
Each captured a piece of Top Secret without copying it. The next movie I would see him in is Top Gun, then I saw Real Genuis. (I saw his third film before the second) I admit I saw Top Gun primarily because of Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis falling in love and, of course, the jets. And I think it is the only time I thought Kenny Loggins rocked! No, I did not see the other movie, Footloose, that has Kenny Loggins’s other cool song.
Other films I saw Kilmer in include The Doors, Thunderheart, Tombstone, Heat, The Ghost and the Darkness, At First Sight, Pollock, Salton Sea and Alexander. Sadly, I stopped paying attention until one day I learned about Kilmer’s throat cancer, surviving it, then getting a new career as an artist.
I would not decide to learn more about Kilmer until Christmas Eve 2022, when I sat down on my couch to take in Amazon Prime’s documentary film Val. After seeing it, I think the character closest to Kilmer in real life is Nick Rivers. The coolest and most immersive character hands down is when he became Jim Morrison of the Doors, and finally, the best Doc Holiday in the movie Tombstone.
The documentary does honor Kilmer’s film career, tells us about his childhood, his immediate family, his family with Joanne Whalley, and what he has done as an artist. I would say the one thing I wanted to see more of is his art and the gallery Kilmer has. Otherwise, I feel the documentary is complete.
Amazon Prime Video Documentary: VAL
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Disney +’s National Treasure: Edge of History
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOTKWuIlmh8 National Treasure: Edge of History Trailer from Disney +s YouTube Channel My Dad likes the two National Treasure movies and I have caught bits and pieces from the films. I did not get the feel of wanting to watch them. However, when I saw the trailer for Disney’s National Treasure: Edge of History I…