expr:class='"loading" + data:blog.mobileClass'>
A few weeks ago, thinking I needed to replace a broken television, I posed the question on Facebook as to which TVs are made in the United States. Foolishly, I expected several quick responses which would direct me to several brands. I received two replies which suggested that there probably are none, or possibly one.
Realizing I was going to have to work to find one, I began searching through Google. I learned:
1. Most American-made TVs ceased to exist in 1985 when Zenith was bought out by a South Korean company.
2. Sharp moved to Mexico in 2000.
3. Vizio Inc. is located in California, but the TVs are manufactured elsewhere.
4. Olevia TVs were made in the US by Syntax-Brillian (Tempe, Arizona) until they went bankrupt in 2008.
5. Phillips television sets are made in China, their North American Head Office is in New York City, NY, but the parent company is in the Netherlands.
6. There are a few TV monitors (not TV receivers) used for security systems made in the US.
The sad fact is that Americans cannot purchase a television set manufactured in the USA by American workers.
As a "fun experiment," three Hilton Head Island authors decided to collaborate on writing a romantic suspense/thriller. The happy result was Ringer, a digital book available on Kindle ($2.99).
Set mostly on Hilton Head Island, it is the story an attempt to derail an International Peace Conference being held at the Cloisters on Sea Island, Georgia.
In the service of a clandestine organization of the government, IMPOSTR, Caroline Stephens is a specialist in disguise and surgically changing a person's appearance. After a successful operation at a safe house in West Virginia, her world falls apart. By accident she survives an attempt to kill her and realizes that not only is she the target of her own agency, but also that her own brother who is calling the shots.
After escaping south, she attempts to hide as an oyster sucker on Hilton Head Island where she meets a fishing boat captain who is a former Navy SEAL, Can Coop, and their benevolent employer, Noah Stamper. By accident Caroline and Can learn that they are both threats to an important general who has presidential ambitions and that, therefore, they are his targets.
Having determined the general's plans,Caroline, Can and Noah set out on a nearly impossible mission to thwart the general's scheme- a plan which would severely damage international relations for years to come.
The novel is fast-paced action with an adequate dash of suspense. The local color helps the reader overlook some of the coincidences of the plot line, but its charm is the interesting characters whom the reader quickly identifies with.
Tre' Hilton is the pseudonym for three Hilton Head authors: Kathy Wall, known for her Bay Tanner series, Jo Williams, author of The Song My Soul Remembers, and Vicky Hunnings, author of The Bride Wore Blood and other mystery novels.
