Laguna Book Review (PDF)

							Title:
Laguna – Book Review

Word Count:
497

Summary:
This book invokes political scams a
nd rich men’s schemes, harbored lov
es and dedications that control wom
en’s lives - and my favorite of all
 themes – the love and desire to pr
otect the environment. I love the
good verses evil scenario set out f
rom the start. Here we have greed w
orking against vengeance with the b
ackdrop of romance and the need to
do what is right. I was stunned to
discover this is this author’s very
 first book. It is of excellent qua
lity with writing skills I have sel
dom seen.


Keywords:
fiction, murder, modern political s
uspense, mystery, environment consp
iracies


Article Body:
The first thing that stood out for
me about Michael Putegnat’s novel,
Laguna, was the author’s excellent
writing skills. He has the ability
to create a vision in the readers m
ind and employs a clever use of hum
or. Attractive hooks at the ending
of most chapters kept me unable to
resist reading at least the first p
aragraph or two of the next one.

Laguna opens with Octavio Paredes,
the missing fisherman, and his wife
 Anajita. This interesting inter-ra
cial marriage gives glimpses of und
erlying racism in their families. F
rom there we are introduced to Jaso
n, a sergeant at a police station,
and his brother Jack, who is depres
sed and out-of-work. The hands of f
ate drag these two brothers into th
e case of the missing fisherman. In
triguing threads lead back to Jack’
s old job and his only refuge is hi
s sailboat. However the unexpected
romance with Angela brings a ray of
 relief to Jack’s battered life.

Sweet Angela, the green-eyed daught
er of Sophia Poole, is more than sh
e seems. She gets that from her mot
her. Sophia, no ordinary elderly la
dy, holds an emotional secret.

John Mange, his wife and two sons a
re facing financial loss on a grand
 scale. But nothing small in this f
amily has been done in more than fo
ur generations. Greed runs deep in
John’s genes and like his forefathe
rs, he stoops to unspeakable levels
 to get what he desires most.

Enter Fester Stubb, a former IRS ta
x fraud specialist is employed by J
ohn Mange. John doesn’t yet know it
, but he has just made his biggest
mistake.

As you can probably tell by the lis
t of characters, the back cover sta
tement accurately describes the set
ting for Laguna as a place where “p
ower and greed are the new religion
 and love is an accident”.

This book invokes political scams a
nd rich men’s schemes, harbored lov
es and dedications that control wom
en’s lives - and my favorite of all
 themes – the love and desire to pr
otect the environment. I love the
good verses evil scenario set out f
rom the start. Here we have greed w
orking against vengeance with the b
ackdrop of romance and the need to
do what is right. I was stunned to
discover this is this author’s very
 first book. It is of excellent qua
lity with writing skills I have sel
dom seen.

The characters are made to appear s
o real. No one in particular is a “
hero”, yet they all play a heroic p
art in some way – each without know
ledge of what any of the others wer
e doing. It was a great example of
what each of us can do by playing a
n active role.

In his real life, author Michael Pu
tegnat is familiar with the politic
al arenas and enjoys sailing. He al
so comes from a long line of Texans
; his family has lived in the state
 for 5 generations or so. Because o
f this, his book comes alive for th
e reader with seemingly little effo
rt on his part.