The Foreign Service Journal, November 2013

32 NOVEMBER 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Service, Ray spent 20 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a major in 1982. He now serves as chair of AFSA’s Professionalism and Ethics Committee. Dead Man’s Cove: An Al Pennyback Mystery Charles Ray, CreateSpace, 2012, $9.96, paperback, 214 pages. On a boat trip in the Chesapeake Bay with some Washington, D.C.-area high society members, Al Pennyback is more con- cerned with his fear of water than anything else. However, shortly after arriving at their destination, Dead Man’s Cove, his attention is dramatically refo- cused when a member of the party is violently murdered. Now, instead of finally being able to relax on dry land, Al must uncover the killer before he or she strikes again. Aside from the suspense, present in all of Charles Ray’s Al Pennyback mysteries ( Dead Man’s Cove is Book 12 of the series), the protagonist finds himself immersed in a string of jealousies, hatred and general malcontent between his fellow vacationers. Solving this murder proves to be one of the toughest cases that the fictional detective has ever dealt with. Ray’s audience has come to expect dramatic description and thrilling plot twists, and Dead Man’s Cove does not disappoint. Charles Ray has written more than 30 works of fiction and nonfiction, including the Al Pennyback series and a series of historical novels about the Buffalo Soldiers. For his biography, please see the previous entry. Death from Unnatural Causes Charles Ray, Uhuru Press, 2013, $12.95, paperback, 244 pages. Al Pennyback has no shortage of leads when attempting to solve the case of the murder of elderly Geraldine Wallace, but each one takes this D.C. private investiga- tor nowhere. He has to proceed without hard evidence, a motive or even a body while facing uncooperative antagonists. Yet he does some of his best work in this 15th novel of the series. The protagonist has personal issues to overcome before he can start solving this senior-citizen murder, including his own discomfort with the elderly and the tragic loss of his son and wife. This novel is about an investigation that, as Pennyback and his audience will discover, does not have a traditional outcome. The White Dragons: A Novel of International Intrigue Charles Ray, Uhuru Press, 2013, $14.71, paperback, 388 pages. A car is blown up in Dagastan, a land- locked country in the cold Arctic bleak- ness of Soviet Russia. When a young State Department employee, Lesley Carter, begins looking into the crime, she is murdered. Now, an intelligence analyst and diplomatic security officer are charged with finding out who killed her. They, in turn, are pursued by an assassin led by the shadowy White Dragons, who are trying to kill them in Washington. From the first few pages, this sinister mystery will have the reader wanting to knowmore. Vivid detail and dark imagery are the specialties of author Charles Ray, and his complex plot about this fictional country and the mysterious people operating within it is riveting. In chapters set in Dagastan, the eerie uneasiness and chilling sense of cruelty due to the desolate location and cut-throat atmo- sphere of KGB-like politics are palpable. In the parts set inWash- ington, readers will be caught up in the frenzy of fictional State Department employees trying to escape attempts on their lives. Home of the Can Man’s Daughter James Vachowski, Battered Suitcase Press, 2013, $8.06, paperback, 76 pages. Poppy Schaeffer is a war hero and a sur- vivor of some of the most difficult times a man can endure. Nevertheless, he rep- resents the small town of Christmas, Fla., and serves as an idol to his eighth-grade grandson, from whose perspective this story is told. Once a sculptor of world landmarks who used nothing but beer cans and cement, Poppy’s deteriorating health parallels the decline of the town of Christmas. It is it up to his grandson, King, and King’s father to give Poppy one last gesture of appreciation in reflection of his humble and fulfilling life. This short novel is full of heartwarming detail and is assuredly a feel-good read, especially for anyone with a charismatic, earthy figure like Poppy Schaeffer in their family. The concept of a paral- lel between the storied yet aging man and the declining small town in which he lives is simple, but well-written. James Vachowski has served as a special agent with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security since 2011. Home of the Can Man’s