
Innocence
By David Hosp
Warner Books
$24.99, hardback, 416 pages, 0446580147
This is your typical novel about a man wrongfully accused and convicted of a horrible crime. Vincente Salazar, an illegal immigrant and doctor from El Salvador, was sentenced to fifty years with no parole for the assault of Madeline Steele, a Boston undercover cop. She identified Salazar and his fingerprints were found on the gun that shot her.
Open and shut case, right? Hardly.
Enter Scott Finn, a sole practitioner who is barely making ends meet by taking any case that walks in the door. Finn agrees to represent Salazar and as he digs deeper and deeper for the truth of what happened, he finds that the police are hiding a dark secret – one that quickly puts Finn’s life at risk.
I liked this book and it enlightened some interesting facts about the criminal justice system and what is needed to get a new trial for those already convicted of crimes. For those interested in seeing justice for those who innocent people who don’t deserve to be in jail, it’s a worthwhile read.
The author, David Hosp is a Boston lawyer at Goodwin Procter who for the past few years has worked with a team of attorneys representing various individuals wrongfully convicted. The factual basis for this novel is similar to the case of Stephan Cowans who was convicted for the shooting and attempted murder of a Boston cop, but was later exonerated and released from prison through the work of the New England Innocence Project.
Buy it here.

Be The Pack Leader
By Cesar Millan
Harmony Books
$25.95, hardback, 316 pages, 978-0-307-38166-8.
If you enjoy watching Cesar Millan in the National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer, you’ll like this book. Although Cesar reviews some of the some cases that have already appeared on the television show that you might already have seen (John Grogan, author of Marley & Me, and his new dog Gracie), the book provides plenty of other examples that will be new to you.
As always, Cesar repeats his advice of using calm-assertive energy with your dog. He also uses his tried-and-true formula for working with difficult dogs: exercise, discipline, and affection – in that order.
Cesar also reviews tools for using with dogs, including various leashes, collars, muzzles, electronic fences and other items. He discusses different breeds and what you might expect from certain types of dogs. An Appendix provides a quick reference to becoming a better pack leader.
Cesar focuses throughout the book on his familiar theme that it is unstable owners who make unstable dogs. That central idea is part of the fun in watching the television show – the realization in the owner’s eyes when he or she understands that their dog has all these problems because of them.
The subtitle to the book reads: Use Cesar’s Way to Transform Your Dog … and Your Life. Although I recommend the book, even if I were able to completely rid my dog of all her “bad habits” using Cesar’s methods, it’s quite a stretch for me to believe that the ideas in this book will transform my life. I’d be happy if I could just get my dog to come when I call her.
Buy it here.
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Dinner With Dad
By Cameron Stracher
Random House
$22.95, hardback, 242 pages, 978-1-2019-6537-0
I don’t quite know what to make of this book. The author, Cameron Stracher, is obviously a bright guy. He graduated from Harvard Law School and has written two previous books. He’s a graduate of the Iowa Writers workshop and has written articles for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other major papers and magazines.
Cameron has a lovely wife, two great children, a nice home and a good job as a successful lawyer. Like many folks who make tradeoffs with their family in order to work enough hours to justify a well-to-do lifestyle, Cameron spends little time with his wife and kids and too much time at the office.
So one day, he decides he’s had enough.
He begins an experiment where for the next year, he’ll be home by 6:00 p.m. at least five days a week to sit down with his family for dinner – and he’ll even help cook the meal himself. He imagines it will be an Ozzie and Harriet type of existence where his (vegetarian) wife, 9-year old son, and 6-year old daughter will be delighted at his newfound ability to be home. Naïve? You bet.
The difficulty I have with this book is the way that Cameron keeps insisting on making food that his children don’t like. His daughter prefers plain pasta and his son like hot dogs. So what does Cameron prepare?
How about things like: cassoulet, garlic shrimp, spicy peanut noodles, falafel, tofu with edamame, shrimp and black bean fajitas, couscous, penne with pesto, and risotto? His children, quite naturally, often fail to eat what he cooks. He often gets angry and they often are set to bed. Why?
It’s no mystery that many children are fussy eaters. Oh, I know not all of them – but many are. Yet Cameron keeps making these elaborate meals with food his children have never tried before and he continues to fume and pout when they refuse to eat what he cooks.
Other than this jarring nod to reality that Cameron is intent on ignoring, the rest of the book is quite charming. Full of touching family moments and witty observations on life, this book has an enduring message: being close to your family is worth all the effort.
Buy it here.