Showing posts with label drugs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drugs. Show all posts

Saturday, December 6, 2014

The Case of the Death Dealer - Lawrence Johnson, Sr., Author


Salmon Loaf
(An Alex Special)

1 Can Alaskan Sockeye Salmon (Red) 14.75oz
2 Cups Bread Crumbs
2 Heaping tablespoons Mayonnaise
1 One tablespoon of dry Mustard (you may use wet mustard as a substitute)

½ Onion (diced) or tablespoon of onion powder

½ teaspoon Black Pepper

1 Egg (beaten)

2 Cups Chicken stock (you may use beef stock or water as a substitute.)


Place salmon (including liquid) in a large mixing bowl, discard bone.  Use the back of a fork to break salmon into small pieces.  Add breadcrumbs and mix with salmon.  Add mayonnaise, mustard onion and egg then mix ingredients together thoroughly.  Add chicken stock and pepper,  mix well.  Note:  If you substitute water for chicken stock you may add a level teaspoon of salt.  Form into a loaf then place into loaf or baking pan.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes depending on oven.   Serves 6.  Leftover taste great when sliced and fried with oil or butter.  Original recipe from the Budget Gourmet 


The Case of the Death Dealer - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish

Alex Steele is at it again in this short story involving Fat Daddy and Dr. Death.   It seems that both deal in drugs and were actually associates, that is until Fat Daddy had Dr. D's sister killed.  Now the good doctor is out for revenge and his revenge will be targeted at Fat Daddy's customers.  His plan... he has taunted Fat Daddy's next cocaine shipment with an odorless poison that has been sprayed on the drugs.


Alex, hired by an old schoolmate, which he really has no use for, takes the case to hopefully prevent this mass murder of some of the local junkies.  Will he find the drugs in time?  Let's sure hope so.



As with all of the Alex Steele books, this one is filled with action, suspense and the reader holding on to the edge of the seat.  I'm crossing my fingers that we'll see even more of this character in the very near future.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Kidnapped by the Cartel - Karen D. Scioscia, Author

 

 
Salmon Tacos
(A true favorite!)

For Salmon:
2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 lb. center-cut salmon filet
½ tsp. smoked paprika
½ tsp. all-purpose seasoning
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For Salsa:
5 mini red bell peppers
6 pineapple slices, about 1/2” thick
¼ cup sliced green onions
¼ cup diced red onion
1 dash of lime juice
Chop all and mix together

For “Sour Cream”:
1 cup Greek yogurt
¼ cup mayonnaise
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Juice from ½ a lime
Mix all together

More fixings:
8 cups mixed field greens
Olive Oil
Red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat grill to medium.  Place the salmon on a plate and rub with about 1 Tbsp. olive oil.  Season with the paprika, all-purpose seasoning, salt and pepper.  Cook salmon with skin on.  Remove skin before cutting.  Set aside.

To serve:  Warm tortillas slightly in a pan, cut salmon into strips, add salmon and salsa inside tortilla. Along with the salsa, add in mixed greens, olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste. Add “sour cream” mix.

This is also fantastic with tilapia instead of salmon, and mango instead of pineapple.
 

 Kidnapped by the Cartel - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
 
 
Day three in hell began with Steve finally falling into a fitful sleep around three o’clock in the morning. He woke up at five. It took almost an entire pot of java to clear his head. He sat at the kitchen table, reviewing the situation. The previous night he had called all of Amanda’s friends listed in their address book, and no one knew anything. Or at least they weren’t saying. Someone has to know something. Other occasions when Amanda had “seemed to vanish,” someone had known where she was. This time, all of the players appeared clueless… Where the hell is Amanda?

 
Amanda couldn’t believe a stranger had driven away with her car and she’d done nothing. While upset by this, she remained consumed by her desire for drugs. I won’t freak out, Amanda thought, trying to calm herself. These guys said I can get my car back when I want. I’ll just have them take me to my car after I get high… “Where are we going? Amanda murmured, desperate for drugs. She knew she was in bad shape. Neither man answered. They could see that the girl was too messed up for the question to matter… Where the hell is Amanda?

 
Amanda Tate’s parents Steve and Diane had tried everything to control her addiction to drugs but to no avail. She had been in and out of rehabs only to meet others that could help her score once she got out. When Amanda called Steve asking that he pick her up he knew she was strung out and took her straight to the center only to be turned away because they had a full house. The only option he had was to take her home and guard her well as her body brought itself down from the drugs. He just didn’t count on her slipping out while he and Diane went to the store. And when calls to her cell phone were answered by a Spanish speaking man in Mexico he knew his daughter was in deep trouble.

 
Kidnapped by the Cartel a parent’s worst nightmare. Author Karen D. Scioscia takes us into the bowels of Tijuana, Mexico where young girls are kidnapped, drugged, tortured and used. We as Americans have always heard about young girls running off to Hollywood only to end up on drugs and becoming prostitutes to support their habits. What we don’t hear about are those that go south and end up in Mexico where drugs are plentiful and free – but for a price. As long as you’re in with the Cartel you can count on only the best drugs to sniff, snort and shoot up. They are hooked so deeply into the drugs that they will do anything to keep them coming. But what if you want out? There is only one way out for these girls and that is by death. Either the drugs will get them, they will serve their use and no longer be useful or they try to run. Either way the end is almost always the same… death.

 
Amanda’s story is fiction but it is based on a true story and taken from the notes, recollections and interviews of people and agencies involved in an abduction of family member of the author. Even if there was no truth to this story its one that I have no doubt tells the true happenings going on every day within the areas controlled by the Cartel. This is a book that every parent should read and pray that your daughter nor granddaughter is never put into this type of situation. That goes true for your sons and grandsons too because it’s not just the girls that are used but the boys are too.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

The Covert Element - John L. Betcher, Author


Mexican Cartel Fajitas
(A John L. Betcher favorite)
Ingredients

  • 4 Boneless and Skinless Chicken Breast Fillets, sliced into thin strips
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 oz lime juice
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 crushed garlic clove
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 8 flour tortillas
  • 1 lb guacamole dip
  • 2 oz fresh cream
  • Fresh lime wedges for garnishing.
Directions
  • Place the sliced skinned chicken in a bowl with salt, pepper, garlic and lime juice. Toss to coat chicken. Let stand for thirty minutes.
  • Peel the thinly sliced onion, de-seed and slice the peppers.
  • Heat the oil in a heavy pan. Then fry the onions and peppers for 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken and cook for additional 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Place the tortillas under a broiler or on a flat fry pan, for about a minute and turn once.
  • Spoon chicken and pepper mixture onto each tortilla, then the top with a spoonful of guacamole and fresh cream.
  • Roll up the tortilla and serve hot with lime wedges.


The Covert Element – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat and Think With Your Taste Buds
 
‘Whether drugs or not, it was hard for me to imagine that the scene I had observed this morning could possibly portend anything but headaches and misery for the residents of Ottawa County.  “But twenty-three dead…When’s the last time that sort of mass execution happened in the U.S.?”  Beth stared into space.  “Gotta be when that crazy Hennard guy drove his pickup truck through the front window of Luby’s Café in Texas way back in – what was it – ’91?  Long time ago, anyway.”  “This morning’s atrocity looked like something out of Kosovo.  Like an ethnic cleansing.  Or like the mob sending someone a message.  But we don’t have ‘the mob’ in Minnesota…just a few rag tag street and motorcycle gangs that shoot each other once in a while.”  I thought for a moment.  I could see Beth was trying to make some sense of all this, too.  “I s’pose Hells Angels is the closest we’ve got to any organized crime syndicate,”  I said.  “But if it was a biker gang, the BCA should find evidence of motorcycles all over the place.  I didn’t see any tracks around that house this morning.  Still…you never know.”  I was out of ideas.  Maybe some solid police work would give me new options to consider soon.  In the meantime, while ruthless killers roamed loose in or around Ottawa County, I would sleep very lightly indeed.’
 
James Becker, Attorney-at-law, called “Beck” for short, came back from a smoldering meth cooking lab where 23 men had been killed.  Beck had been invited to go to the scene by his friend Ottawa County Chief Deputy Sheriff, Doug Gunderson, also known as “Gunner.”  The biggest problem was, how were 23 men talked into lying down on the ground while each one was individually shot in the head with the same gun?  But that is exactly how they were found outside the lab as it burned.  Beck believes there has to be more to the story but after the BCA appeared on the scene, he and Gunner are left out of the loop.  So what do they do?  They create their own “loop.” 
 
After Beck is contacted by another friend Terry "Bull" Red Feather, an American Indian who served his country as an Army Ranger, he becomes convinced that this “little” meth lab is just the beginning of something even bigger.  And after a conversation between Bull, Beck and Bull’s military comrade Master Sergeant Fuentes, they know that the Mexican drug cartel known as Los Cinco, is involved. 
 
Following Beck, Bull, Gunner and Beck’s wife Beth, as they take on one of the largest cartels in existence, keeps you on the edge of your seat.  And then there is Ralphael Santos who has worked his way up from the ground floor to become the head man and leader of Los Cinco.  He will have you quickly turning the pages just to see what evil he will inflict on his next victim.  But wait until you see who his victims really are.
 
I’ve read several books written by Author John L. Betcher.  He has a way of writing that makes you feel as if you’re on the sidelines watching the events take place.  His knowledge of the topic he is writing about educates to happenings that you only read bits and pieces of in the local papers.  He brings out the full truth as to how things are toned down and released on a need to know basis only.  The Covert Element is a perfect example of his great style of writing.
 
2011
264 Pages
ISBN# 978-1461084532

Thursday, July 28, 2011

My Life For Her - Robert Saniscalchi, Author

 
Blue Berry Pancakes

1) Two cups of Bisquick
2) Half cup of milk
3)Half cup of seltzer water
4)Two large eggs
5) One tablespoon of sugar
6) I cup fresh blueberries

Stir ingredients until blended.
Pour slightly less than one quarter cup fulls onto hot greased griddle.
Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook until golden.
Top Off with butter and warmed maple syrup.

Can be served with eggs, bacon or sausage on the side.
 
My Life, For Her – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat and Think With Your Taste Buds – Desserts
 
‘Rob called Roy, “Beth Anne is missing!  She left the Hospital to meet us at the game and never showed.  Where the hell could she be at this hour?”
“Calm down Rob,” Roy replied, “I’m sure there must be a reasonable explanation for all this worry. She must have broken down on some back road.”…
Rob walked over to his car.  “Roy, I don’t know where the hell she is!  It’s not like her at all, missed the game and no calls.  Did she just disappear or decide to leave us?  I don’t understand why she would do that.   It just doesn’t make any sense.”…
They walked around checking for her car.  It wasn’t long before they found it.  Rob opened the door with his set of keys, the engine started with no problem.  Why was it still in the parking lot – it didn’t make sense.  The panic grew inside him; his hands were trembling as they checked around the whole hospital perimeter.  It was getting late and they still found no sign at all of Beth Anne.’
 
Rob Marrino is a happily married man with a wonderful wife, Beth Anne, and two beautiful children.  After serving as a field medic in Viet Nam, and with the encouragement of Beth Anne’s uncle Roy, Rob joined the police force in their home town of Pikeville.  Pikeville was the perfect place to live, raise a family and serve on the police force.  It was small, quiet and virtually crime free.  Then all hell broke out when Rob was cruising in his restored Mustang and was passed by a vehicle being chased by the a state trooper.  As Rob joined in the chase and knew things were kicking up a notch when he saw the gun being fired out the window at the trooper’s car. 
 
What turned out to be one of the biggest drug busts in the small town’s history also turned out to be one of the biggest nightmares in Rob’s history.  What he would end up facing was far worse than anything he had ever faced while serving in Nam.  Why?  Because it was happening to his own family, mainly Beth Anne. 
 
In My Life, For Her, Rob, along with his best friend Tex, is taken back into the jungles to defend what is his.  The two attempt to accomplish a feat that the government had failed in doing.  This becomes a time that all of their Viet Nam training kick back in with hopes that they will escape with their lives as well as the lives of others.  My Life, For Her was a book that kept me turning the pages and cheering for a miracle.
 
2010
147 pages
PublishAmerica
ISBN# 9781451266825
 

 
Design by Wordpress Theme | Bloggerized by Free Blogger Templates | coupon codes