Book Reviews and Reader's Comments
George Crawford's Attic
From Connie Steiert, Eagle Valley Enterprise
As usual, your book is awesome, and I think you are a
wonderful writer ... and detective!
From Dave W., Grand Junction, Colorado
I just finished reading the book on the history of Grand Junction. I have only lived here about ten years and yet I now feel a little more like this is my home... I now am beginning to really appreciate this area.
From Brenda R., Grand Junction, Colorado
Your wonderful book arrived yesterday. It is an amazing labor of love. The front and back covers are fabulous and what I've read so far, is sooooo interesting. You make the people and places come alive...and all the photos ZOWIE. No words to describe how much I am enjoying this book and will continue to do so for quite some time.
Our Darling
From Sam McC., Montrose, Colorado
Your books launched me into a new wave of reading. I hadn't done much reading simply for enjoyment in years before coming across your writings. I have re-read both your books with much enjoyment.
From Dave W., Grand Junction, Colorado
I can't remember the last time that I was reading a book with such intensity that I did not realize I was near the end...I have truly enjoyed your book and will soon be ordering your third one...Please, please do not stop researching and writing. I truly love your work.
From Jody Kay, Reviewer for Women on Writing and The Romance Studio
Yowzah! Our Darling centers around true-life circumstances of a baby found in a cave, wrapped in muslin within a casket. D.A. Brockett brings to life the background of this tragic death through the eyes of those that lived in Grand Junction, Colorado (during the Roaring Twenties). It was a time of bobbed haircuts, flapper dresses, and the Tin Lizzy. Women worked, spoke their minds, and chose to be educated. Young men held dreams of greatness, and the United States was picking itself up and dusting itself off from the remnants of the (Great) War. Step back in time with this talented author as she walks her reader through the streets of Grand Junction. All of her characters carry a message, a purpose depicting the times. With her usual flair for historic detail, we see life as it exists in soda shops, bicycle repair, and the dawn of the large department stores. Fall in love with her characters as they experience a first love, a lasting love, and a love renewed only equal to a time when anything was possible. Keep in mind that all towns carry their hidden truths. In Our Darling, some of those truths are revealed, others are left a mystery.
From Linda Lane, author and publisher
Grand Junction, Colorado in 1924 comes to life in Brockett's latest mystery-ish novel inspired by notorious gravesites. Oak Miller, soon to be a (high school) graduate, wants to be a hotshot reporter like his classmate, Dalton Trumbo (yes, the guy who wrote Johnny Got His Gun, and grew up in Grand Junction). Lazuli Waters, the most beautiful girl in town (in Oak's eyes) provides a love interest. The mystery starts when three contemporary boys picnicking in a cave discover that the big rock they are using as a table makes a hollow sound when struck. Digging into it they discover a casket holding the long-interred remains of a baby girl. Flash back to 1924 and meet several Grand Junction residents and experience life in the Roaring Twenties in a Western Colorado town where recent graduates explore life. Brockett's unique books take a real historical mystery as a starting point for her extensively researched novels that bring the era to life. Final chapters are non-fiction telling what she finds as she delves into these "cold cases."
Stained Glass Rose
…“I
see a perfectly crafted masterpiece of beauty and message. The amazing thing is,
if the artist had left out even one bit of glass, the picture would be
incomplete. No matter how small or colorless, each piece is necessary and
valuable.”…
WOW Review July, 2003
The escapades of Mari and Rose will leave you laughing and wondering what could possibly happen next...Brockett's three-year research into the mystery of this murder led her to tell this story, a wonderfully warm coming of age tale of romance, adventure, murder and a new way of life.
Peggy Phifer, Wordsmith E-Magazine September, 2003
"An enjoyable summer read and a good picture of Grand Junction in the years coming out of the depression."
Life and Times Magazine April, 2002
"Brockett really captures the setting and the time period feels authentic. I enjoyed it."
Diane Herald, book reviewer, Genrefluent May, 2002
Reader's Comments:
"I
just finished "Stained Glass Rose," and it's a delightful book.
My husband loved it, too. I think that's why he kept hiding it; so I wouldn't be
trying to read it while he was." Jan J. CO
"I just couldn't put your book down!" Dee K. WA
"You have a marvelous capacity for the old and I love your style. My
husband and I have enjoyed reading it aloud to one
another." Mary K. OH
"There were tears flowing as I finished it. When's the next one coming
out?" Sue B. WA
"I enjoyed it very much, and congratulate you on a great
story." Dorothy R. CO
“ I
learned of the existence of (“Stained Glass Rose”) a couple of weeks ago by
turning on my car radio and catching the last part of an interview with its
author. She was saying that her research in preparation for writing a novel is
practically as exciting as creating the story itself. In her research she
meticulously gathers information about real people, the locale and the time in
which an actual event occurred--an event that provides a historical backdrop for
her story. Two of her novels, "Stained Glass Rose" and "Our
Darling" sprang from cemetery tours in and near Grand Junction, Colorado,
where she lives. The way "Stained Glass Rose" wends through the
streets of Grand Junction was particularly fascinating, and would be even to
someone not familiar with the environs.”
Sam Mc. CO
“As a resident of Grand Junction, Colorado, I was captivated by the skillful way in which Ms. Brockett took me into my town's past, leading me along the street into areas that I never knew existed. Not only did the locale grab my attention, but also the characters quickly became three-dimensional, introducing me to a lifestyle that has long since been laid to rest.” Linda L. CO