1 out of 4 stars
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Lemoncella Cocktail by Rene Natan
Everything seems to be going wrong for Patrick when he becomes a witness to an attempted murder. After rescuing the victim from drowning he is hired by the police to help them capture the suspects. This leads him to meet the victim’s family, work as a spy for the police and meet a new sweetheart.
There is a second storyline about weapons being sold illegally. This operation has been active for several years, undetected by the authorities. Problems arise when a young woman witnesses a transaction between the buyers and sellers of these weapons. These two main themes are intertwined throughout the book.
Besides the two main themes, each of the sub-characters are given their own sub-themes which are developed, sometimes to the detraction of the main theme.
This text was very hard to read to the end as it is replete with many grammar and vocabulary errors. It was extremely frustrating. The frequent errors detract from the story and make the reader lose interest. On many occasions when the author is trying to present a serious and suspenseful scene the grammar error changes the suspense and mystery into humor (“they flu me here”, p. 130).
I also had a difficult time with the double personality of some of the characters. Patrick is presented as the macho-man but he is constantly cooking and preparing meals. He also is preoccupied with doing his laundry and dusting his apartment.
I recommend this book to teachers of English as a Second Language, especially if your students speak Spanish as their first language. This book is a window into what language learners are truly comprehending in their lessons. Teachers would see what their students are actually hearing ex: “shade light on this” (shed light). It also shows how second language learners often do not understand English sentence structure and their eternal struggle with verbs.
I rate this book a 1 out of 4. The author made an effort to tell a story that included suspense and romance, mystery and murder. At the same time, after all that work, why not hire someone or ask a native English speaker to proofread your text? The story would have been more enjoyable without the multitude of errors.
I felt that this story was written as a soap opera. All the elements of a soap opera are present: several romances, suspense, murder, family, babies, birth, death, falling in love, backstabbing, etc. The text jumps back and forth between the different themes and sub-themes like short segments of a daytime soap opera. I would suggest this author consider writing for daytime television.
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Lemoncella Cocktail
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