About
The Book:
This
second book in the series takes the reader further into
the life of Alicia Trent and her friends. Magic, forgery, betrayal, and
fabulous jewels surround Alicia as she struggles to find the reason for her
friend's death.
Buy Links:
My Thoughts:
Antique Forgery is the sequel to Antique Magic. This second
book is as fantastic as the first book. Simply I loved the first book and after
completion of first part I immediately started the second one.
This time the author has kept the plot simple; I even didn’t
predict the twist is coming. The characters are realistic and they will seek
attention from you. The author’s writing style is simple yet crisp and she has
detailed every bit quite efficiently. Every character lies under the suspicion
region and mysterious develop as the story unfolds further. Again the readers
will baffle with the plenty of secrets.
The story is a quick read and the jaw-dropping mysteries
will hold you back to turning pages. This story comes up to my expectation
level and I’ falling for Eileen Harris’s writing style. I will give it four out
of five stars for again the author’s writing style and the capturing mysteries.
This book is highly recommended for those who love mysteries and like to read
fiction full of secrets.
We were nearly halfway up the
stairs when I heard Lawrence groan. I turned to see what had happened. He was
deathly white, and while I watched, he sank down on the closest step. He was
sweating heavily and clutching his stomach. He didn't seem coherent enough to
answer any questions, so I ducked into my room and called for an ambulance.
They only took about ten minutes to arrive, but it was horrible to wait.
Lawrence was obviously in great pain, but couldn't tell me what was wrong.
The ride to the hospital took an
eternity. They wouldn't let me ride in the ambulance, and I was so afraid of
what would happen before he arrived. I was shaking and behind the wheel of a
car was the last place I should have been, but as the ambulance tore through the
streets with the siren blaring, I was right behind them.
I ran from the parking lot into
the emergency room just in time to see them take Lawrence through a set of
swinging doors where I couldn't follow. I slumped into a chair, and for the
next two hours I sat in a waiting room with dull green walls and hard metal
chairs. I never moved while I waited. My mind was busy begging Lawrence to hold
on.
Since I was the only one waiting,
when I saw an exhausted-looking man dressed in scrubs walk into the room, I took
a deep breath and hurried to his side.
He said, “Are you the relative
who brought Lawrence Hall in tonight?”
Afraid they wouldn't tell me
anything if I confessed to not being a relative, I just nodded.
“Mr. Hall is a very sick man.
He's been poisoned, and we think he must have eaten poisonous mushrooms. Our
tests indicate they were probably green-sporedlepiota.”
At this point I wanted to scream
at him to just tell me his condition. He could explain the details after I knew
how Lawrence was.
However, he wasn't finished
explaining. “This particular mushroom doesn't normally cause death, but among
its other symptoms it can dangerously lower blood pressure. Mr. Hall must be on
some type of medication that has the same effect, or at least exacerbated the
effect of the mushroom, because we nearly lost him. It's a good thing you got
him here when you did. We have him stabilized now, and he should make a full
recovery.”
I barely heard anything the man
said except the last statement. Lawrence was going to be all right! My knees
weakened with relief and I sank into the nearest chair.
He continued, “He's awake, and we
need to monitor him closely for a while. We want to keep him tonight and
tomorrow for observation, but he can probably go home after that. If you want
to see him, you can visit for a short time, but first, can you tell me what
type of medication he's taking? He was still pretty confused when I talked to
him and wasn't able to tell me.”
“I don't know the exact
medication. Lawrence is bi-polar, so it has to be something for that. I'll see
if I can find out the name for you.”
I got the room number and was
practically running in my need to see for myself that he was alive and
recovering. I burst into the room, nearly knocking over a nurse on her way out.
She cautioned me the patient needed rest and, with a frown in my direction,
left the room. I pulled a chair up next to the bed and took Lawrence's hand.
“You look so much better already. You have some color back.”
He said, “You look terrible. You can
relax. I'm going to be fine. I was a little worried in the beginning because
the confusion felt the way some of my episodes used to begin. The confusion is
gone now, and I really am fine. It's left me very tired, but they don't want me
to sleep yet. Tell me exactly what happened. I'm sure the gory details will
help keep me awake. The last thing I remember is starting up the stairs, and
then brief moments in the ambulance.”
I wanted to answer in the same
matter-of-fact way he'd asked the question. I tried, but before I could begin,
tears were running down my face and I couldn't find my voice. I didn't sob or
howl. Strangely, I didn't make any noise at all. I just stared at Lawrence,
horrified because he might have died trying to help me. All the while the
silent tears kept coming.
He said, “Ali, we can't have
this. I've seen you go through some horrible times, but I've never seen you
cry. There's no need for you to be so upset. I promise you I will be out of
here tomorrow, and all will be well. Even the doctor says so.”
I gulped a few times trying to
find my voice. It didn't sound good, but I managed to say, “I couldn't bear it
if anything happened to you. When you get out of here, you're going right back
to Scottsdale! I should never have involved you in any of this.”
“Whoa there, girl! In the first
place, I'm a grown man and you can't involve me in anything I don't choose to
be involved in. In the second place, you and your crazy mixed-up life are the
main thing keeping me from getting old and bored. Bad things happen sometimes,
but none of this is your fault. Now dry those tears and tell me how I got
here.”
I hiccuped a few times but got
myself under control. “Okay, I'm not trying to take the blame for what
happened, but I was so scared. It seems you were poisoned. I wasn't in much
shape to listen to the doctor, but it was some kind of mushroom. There were
mushrooms in the food we ate at supper, but we both ate those. Someone targeted
you specifically. At the moment, I have no idea why they did it, but I don't
think whoever did this was trying to kill you. The doctor said the symptoms
were severe but not normally fatal. The problem seemed to be a reaction between
the poison and your medication. Whoever did this couldn't have known that you
take anything, or at least not that your medicine would react with the
mushrooms. The doctor asked me to find out the name of your prescription.”
“I vaguely remember him asking
me, but I was pretty confused then and couldn't remember. It's Geodon. They
tried dozens before, but nothing worked until this came along. I'm one of the
lucky ones, because it not only keeps the problem in check, but I don't suffer
from any severe side effects. This reaction with poison mushrooms is something
I certainly never expected. I should have told you ages ago in case of a
relapse or some bizarre circumstances like these.”
“I'll let the doctor know the
name of the medicine. I don't know if your medication lowers your blood
pressure, but it dropped dangerously low. That's what had the doctors worried.”
“I don't know either, but the
doctors will figure it out. I understand I have to be in here until tomorrow
evening, even though I tried to talk them into letting me go sooner. You need
to promise me you won't do anything the least bit dangerous until I get back.
One day isn't going to make any difference. Whoever did this may have planned
it to separate us for some reason. So promise me you'll be careful and not
spend time alone.”
The frowning nurse came back and
warned me I needed to leave. Visiting hours were over and the patient needed
rest.
I said, “Don't worry about me. I
promise I will take every precaution until you're out of here. I'll be back
tomorrow afternoon and will drive you to the house when they release you. Just
get well!”
Outside the room, Detective
Wilton was waiting for me.
About
the Author:
From living off the grid in the Arizona desert, Eileen has moved to the woods
of upstate New York. She has authored a standalone adventure novel called
Desert Shadow. She is also the author of Alicia Trent Series. The Black Cane :
Dowager Diaries Book 1 is her latest release.
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