Aries - The Sign Behind the Crimes Book 2

It's been over two months since I attended Ronnie Allen's book signing and purchased my autographed copy of Aries. Since I mostly read e-books these days, I had to plan a time that would make sense for me to read a traditional book. I knew I'd be traveling to New York from Florida in April and promised myself that Ronnie's book would be the book that I'd read on the plane.


It's hard to write a review for a book penned by a friend. I feel it's important to state upfront that I'm not a fan of crime novels, thrillers (psychological or otherwise) or the paranormal. I'm not a fan of the genre but I am a fan of Ronnie. I wanted to see how all her hard work paid off. (I hope it's okay here to mention that I found 3 typos in the book. That's something I'd have no trouble mentioning in a review of a novel written by someone I don't know so I feel it's only fair to mention that here as well.)

After reading and enjoying Book 1, Gemini, in The Sign Behind the Crime series as a beta reader and in its published format,  it made sense that I'd read subsequent books in the series.

Aries follows rookie Detective Samantha Wright. Prior to beginning her first day as detective, Sam goes for a jog and literally runs into a murder victim. Literally. She integrates herself into her detective team as they attempt to solve that - and several more connected murders. She's also working on the cold case of the murder of the wife of the psychiatrist on the team, Dr. Frank Khaos. And it wouldn't be a Ronnie Allen novel without the sexual tension of a developing relationship, in this novel it's between Wright and Khaos.

Ronnie and I talked many times throughout the writing of Aries about how she develops a story and about all the research involved to add the details of the story. I can only imagine all the hours spent talking to her experts about weapons, martial arts, psychological evaluations, police protocol and the like. How she even comes up with her ideas is an astonishing accomplishment to me. Should I imagine that most of the sexual content comes from Ronnie's personal experience? That stuff is hot!

Like me, Ronnie was born and raised in Brooklyn. Brooklyn was one of the main settings in Aries. It's always fun to read a novel that mentions actual places that I am very familiar with. (Gemini was set in both NYC and in rural central Florida so I had a similar connection to the first novel.)



Ronnie Allen is a master at plotting and character development. She expertly wove her sub-plots together seamlessly. I also like how she brought in the main characters of Gemini as more minor characters in Aries. Great connection. I can very easily see both of these novels adapted for the big screen.

Ronnie is currently working on the third book in the series, Scorpio. I haven't had a chance to talk to Ronnie about the plot or the setting of Scorpio nor of how it connects to the first two titles in the series. 

For fans of the genre, I can easily recommend getting started with the series, starting with book 1, Gemini.

Way to go, Ronnie, for turning your dreams into reality!

I so admire PUBLISHED writers

My good friend, Ronnie Allen, was doing a book signing at a local bookstore this afternoon. I want to support Ronnie in her endeavors and I was curious about the bookstore, relatively new in town. Going to the signing was the perfect opportunity to do both. (To The Next Chapter Bookstore, I will be back.)

Ronnie Allen autographing my copy of Aries: The Sign
Behind the Crime Book #2

Ronnie has just published her second book in what will potentially be a 12-book series called The Sign Behind the Crimes. Her first book is titled Gemini. Aries was released two weeks ago. And she's currently working on the third book in the series, Scorpio.

Once Ronnie decided several years ago that she was going to become a published author, there was no stopping her. We attended a Book Festival in Inverness together. I was interested in seminars I attended. I will admit that Ronnie was much more focused, trying to grab every morsel the experts and published authors were throwing our way. Years later, Ronnie has two published books and a working relationship with a publisher, and I have 2 drafts gathering dust on my computer and in my desk. That's okay. As I mentioned in my first blog post, circumstances took me away from my quest to get published followed by a conscious decision to work on other things first.

As an avid reader and a wanna-be-writer, Ronnie invited me to critique the first or second draft of Gemini. I thought I'd be able to read the book before going to bed, my normal time to read, but I wanted to give the book full attention, not skimming over anything. And I took notes. Lots of notes. Then Ronnie hosted a luncheon where the rest of her non-published writer critique group met and discussed the plot and made suggestions for changes. It was very exciting to be part of the process. Several months later, Ronnie had a publishing deal.

Ronnie's work is psychological thriller with a bit of romance - and sex - thrown in. It's not a genre that I'm naturally drawn to but I am able to recognize the genius of her work. She sure puts together a riveting page turner. She is a master of the plot and her character development is on spot. I can so easily imagine Gemini being transformed to the big screen. I'm also a sucker for books that are written in places that I'm very familiar with. Gemini was set in both Brooklyn, NY, my hometown, and Citrus County, Florida, my current home. I'm not 100% sure but I believe that Aries is set in the five boroughs of NYC. That's always a huge draw to me.

Two of us walked into the book store this afternoon at just about the same time. We'd both read Gemini and were there to get our autographed copies of Aries. The other woman mentioned that she so admires writers. People who can imagine and write down stories. For a brief moment, I thought, "Hey, that's me, too. I can imagine stories and write them down." Then, in my mind, I modified her statement somewhat. I so admire published writers. And I really admire Ronnie.

You should look forward to a review of Aries at this site as soon as I finish reading it. I read through the first few pages on the ride home (no, I was not driving) but still have a few books on my to be read list. I read most of Gemini out on the beach last summer. I'm thinking Aries might make a wonderful beach read for me as well.