Hazardous Choices, a book by author Joseph Rinaldo (and the second I've read of his) hits HARD.

Hazardous Choices is the story about a college football player named Darnell who goes to school in a small town in Kentucky to escape his life back home in Chicago which consists of being in a gang. The story is VERY intense because you know, at some point, the paths between his life back home and his life in Kentucky are gonna cross and it's not gonna be good.

The thing I liked about this book is the characters, all of which are written very believably and you grow to care about them. You don't want them to make some of the choices that they do but you can very easily understand WHY they make the choices that they do. There are several story lines (football, gang life, a family learning how to communicate with a special needs kid, etc...) that, taken separately, would make for good books in themselves but, woven together, they form this magical tapestry of a book that you really should read. It's a very quick read and, even when it ends (and I was surprised by it) you will be left wanting more.

I was very impressed with it and hope that everyone will give this book a shot.

5 Stars - Highly recommended.

Find more on Joseph Rinaldo and his works by visiting http://www.josephmrinaldo.com/home/ 

Mr. Rinaldo contacted me via my blog and offered me the chance to review his novel A Spy At Home and, being the lover of books that I am (especially free books), I took him up on that offer. I'm glad that I did.

The title threw me off - I was expecting some kind of Jason Bourne type of thing (don't ask me why) - but the story is SO MUCH MORE than simply being about a spy and really can't be categorized as being in one genre. This book is one part about the spy life but also touches more upon the family life than anything.

Told from a first person perspective of Garrison, a CIA agent, we learn about him and his family. Garrison knows all there is to know about how to read people and situations but, after being away from his family for so long due to his assignments across the globe he's sent out on, it's like he knows nothing about his wife Louisa and his son Noah. The family aspect is the real kicker to the story as the CIA aspect really plays in the background though it's the spy aspect that lays the foundation for why some things play out the way that they do. We learn pretty early on that, while on assignment, Garrison did something that would be frowned up on by the government (of which I will not spoil) and it's certain to make some readers not relate to him or possibly not like him at all depending on what side of the moral compass you fall on. I think what he did is believable and I had no problem buying why or how it was done. But, like I said, I will let you figure that out as I would like to focus more on his family.

Garrison's son Noah (how they come about getting him is a great part of the story) was born with Downs Syndrome. Later on in the book he also comes down with Alzheimers and how Garrison and his wife Louisa deal with this and try to help their son is at times heartbreaking but is, to me, 100% authentic in how it's written. I would love to go on and on about this and the other parts but I would be doing you the reader a disservice by even remotely spoiling it for you.

A Spy At Home is a wonderful book and grabs you from the first few lines. I've never read a book like this before. Joseph Rinaldo takes the spy genre and strips away all the gadgets and exotic missions, exposing  us to the real life that awaits them when they come back home and learn how to deal with the most important mission/assignment they could ever have - FAMILY.

A MUST READ!

Get your copy and learn more about the author by visiting www.josephmrinaldo.com