Month: July 2022

Behind The Badge – Her Story

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Behind the Badge: Her Story
by Antoinette M James

Edmond Gagnon‘s review

Jul 22, 2022  

I met the author, Antoinette James, at the Detroit Bookfest and purchased a copy of her book, Behind the Badge. After listening to her pitch about her memoir, a true story about her life on the Detroit Police Department, I was sold.
I got fooled on this one. The book is more about the author’s personal life, weighing heavily on events that transpired before her time as a cop.
This woman had a life-long dream of being a Detroit Homicide detective, after watching numerous tv cop shows. Her naivety started at a young age, when she tells us in great detail how she was sexually exploited by her father. By the age of 15 she is pregnant, then hooks up with one wrong guy after another, learning nothing along the way.
The author spent only a few years as a cop and says she left the force because of sexual harassment but openly admits having sex with various men for personal advancement.
Some of my women reader friends might enjoy this book but I don’t recommend it as a must read.

My Audiobooks

On By Author Edmond GagnonIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment
My first sale of an audiobook on Google Play

Can you hear me now?

I just sold my first Audiobook on Google Play.

All of my titles are listed and someone purchased a copy of Trafficking Chen.

Don’t worry about the serious commission I raked in, it doesn’t even cover the cost of an air filter for the new furnace and air conditioner we just put in the house.

I’ve had previous requests for audiobooks of my titles so it’s nice to know someone bought one.

Thank you listener 🙂

Elvis – The Movie

On By Author Edmond GagnonIn EntertainmentLeave a comment

I can’t believe someone hasn’t done an Elvis Presley movie before this one. ‘Elvis’ is an in depth look into his life, starting with how he was drawn to music as a child, and later being ‘discovered’ by Colonel Tom Parker. I found it interesting that the rock legend’s story was actually told by the Colonel, a man who defrauded Elvis of much of his fortune.

Why is it that so many great and talented people fall for or trust the wrong person and get taken to the cleaners? Are they too focused on their career’s and assume life the finance will take care of itself. It doesn’t make sense to me, but then I’m no rock and roll star.

The movie seems to have the jitters at first, while it finds it’s footing, but you’ll be tapping your foot or singing along to the awesome music in no time. The flick is almost two and a half hours long but it moved along well. I’d never heard of Austin Butler but I’m sure plenty of folks will now. To me, his awesome performance was only overshadowed by Tom Hanks, who portrayed Elvis’ promoter, the Colonel Tom Parker.

No matter how much you think you know about Elvis Presley’s life and his music, I’m sure you’ll come away with at least a few new facts after seeing this movie. Cathryn and I did. I even learned of other black musicians where the King got some of his inspiration. And I didn’t know that he wrote some of his own songs or that he died at such a young age. Sad.

Cathryn and I saw the movie with her mother and a friend, who spent much of the film singing along with the music. The movie was good and we recommend seeing it. We both give it an 8 out of 10, not worthy of a perfect score from me only because of it was the Colonel’s perspective of the King’s life.

Jurassic World – Dominion

On By Author Edmond GagnonIn EntertainmentLeave a comment

I lost track of how many sequels of Jurassic Park there have been but we’ve managed to see them all and have to admit they are fun to watch. We decided to see this latest instalment in Imax format for extra-sized fun. Add that to the bigger and badder dinosaurs that roamed the earth along with mankind, and this movie was a CGI extravaganza.

Dominion brings back the original cast – some almost dinosaurs themselves, and (spoiler alert) chooses not to have any of them eaten alive during the movie. But don’t fret, plenty of others are snatched up and become dino-food. It is quite amazing how they can blend real people and a gigantic computer-generated animal into the same scene.

And as with other Jurassic movies, there are bad guys and good guys – not the creatures themselves, but people who want to exploit the dinosaurs and our heroes who want to save them. Add in a greedy bio-engineering company and Dominion has all the makings of a scary but lovable family movie.

With nothing else on the big screen these days but superhero movies, Cathryn and I enjoyed the movie. She rated it a 9 out of 10, mostly because nobody really dies. I give it a 6.