Still A(nother) Year In Reviews

The Girl Who Played with Fire

2012-01-30T14:08:00.002-05:00

The Girl Who Played with Fire
by Stieg Larsson

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled genius hacker Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past.

--The Girl Who Played with Fire
by Stieg Larsson (translated by Reg Keeland)
Copyright © Stieg Larsson

My Review

The Girl Who Played with Fire finds Lisbeth Salander living nicely in a hotel in the Caribbean. After leaving Sweden, she’s spent the year traveling the world on the money she stole from Wennerström. But the arrival of an off-season hurricane convinces her it’s time to go home. Once back in Stockholm, she sets herself up in a new apartment, and wonders what she’ll do with her life now that things are so different. One thing she knows for certain, she won’t be getting in touch with Mikael Blomkvist, no matter how many times he calls her.

Blomkvist has just about given up on Salander ever getting in touch with him and besides, he has his own life to deal with. He’s looking at publishing a series of exposé articles on the sex trade along with a book that will go into much deeper detail when the author and his partner are killed. And Lisbeth Salander’s fingerprints are on the murder weapon.

Convinced of her innocence, he begins looking for a connection between the sex trade articles and Salander. At the same time, Lisbeth is forced to confront some of the demons of her past, dating back to the time when “all the evil” occurred and her life was torn apart. Can she survive—literally—long enough to put those demons to rest?

I give this story FOUR and a HALF STARS.

Don't Look Back

2012-01-19T22:07:00.000-05:00

Don’t Look Back
by Karin Fossum

In an idyllic Norwegian village, neighbors know neighbors and children play happily in the streets. But then the naked body of a teenage girl is found. Annie was strong, intelligent, and loved by everyone. What went wrong? Called to investigate, Inspector Sejer uncovers layer upon later of distrust and lies beneath the town’s seemingly perfect façade.

--Don’t Look Back
by Karin Fossum
Copyright © 2002 Karin Fossum, translated by Felicity David

My Review

I’ve begun developing an affinity for Scandinavian authors--Jussi Adler-Olsen and Stieg Larsson so far are the only two on the list, but there should soon be more. Karin Fossum, however, may not join that list. A quarter of the way through this book, I found I really didn’t care much for the main character, Inspector Sejer, or for the murdered girl who was the subject of the mystery. Rather than forcing myself to read the rest of the story, I just skimmed the remainder to find out “whodunit” so I could put it aside.

I do have a couple more books in the Inspector Sejer series that I purchased at the Green Valley Book Fair and I may try reading another one later on this year, but it will be a while before I do that. I have a lot of other books that I want to read and Inspector Sejer will have to wait.

I give this story TWO STARS.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2012-01-19T21:25:00.001-05:00

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Stieg Larsson

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues.

--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Stieg Larsson (translated by Reg Keeland)
Copyright © 2008 Stieg Larsson

My Review

Okay, what can I tell you about this book that you haven’t already heard, read about or seen in the movie (either version)?

Mikael Blomkvist has just been convicted of libel and his career as a financial journalist and magazine owner appear to be over, or at least severely decimated. After convincing his business partner that he needs time away, he accepts an offer from Henrik Vanger. Several decades ago, Vanger’s niece, Harriet, disappeared without a trace. He wants to hire Blomkvist to find out what happened to Harriet. He has a year and he’ll receive a hefty salary, no matter the outcome of his investigation. Since Vanger wants the investigation kept secret, Blomkvist’s cover story is that he’s writing a biography of the family.

Lisbeth Salander is getting-by-just-fine-thank-you on the fringes of society. Overly, she works for Milton Securities as an office junior but in reality, she conducts investigations for the firm. She did one on Mikael Blomkvist for Vanger’s lawyer prior to him being hired and she got to know him quite well through her investigation. Her mother lives in a nursing home and she’s under the guardianship of the state because she has been declared mentally incompetent. She’s not insane, just different, and if people would just leave her alone, she could do just fine for herself. But when her guardian suffers a stroke and she’s assigned to a new guardian, things go from okay to worse.

It takes him some time, but Blomkvist finally uncovers a lead that may answer Henrik’s question. He goes so far with the lead, but then come up short. When he asks Henrik’s lawyer if he knows a good investigator, he reluctant admits that a woman for Milton Securities is the best he’s seen. Her name? Lisbeth Salander. She did his background check. Blomkvist demands to see her report. In reading it, he finds one tiny tidbit of information that could only have come from one place…his own personal computer.

Incensed and intrigued, he arranges to meet and hire Salander to be his research assistant. Together, they uncover the mystery of Harriet’s disappearance, which is part of a conspiracy neither could ever have imagined.

Huh…looks like I managed to say something after all!

I have no choice but to join the legions of people who have read the books and seen the movies and loved the story. Yes, it’s hard to read in some spots due to the graphic nature of the crime involved in Harriet’s disappearance, not to mention all those Swedish names, but it’s worth the time and trouble. If you haven’t read the story yet, I strongly recommend it.

I give this story FOUR and a HALF STARS.

The Pawn

2012-01-19T17:02:00.003-05:00

The Pawn by Steven James

Special Agent Patrick Bowers never met a killer he couldn’t catch.

Until now.

Called to North Carolina to consult on the case of an area serial killer, Bowers finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Cunning and lethal, the killer is always one step ahead of the law, and he’s about to strike again. It will take all of Bowers’s instincts and training to stop the man who calls himself the Illusionist.

--The Pawn
by Steven James
Copyright © 2007 by Steven James
Published by Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group

My Review

FBI Special Agent Dr. Patrick “Call me Pat” Bowers is an environmental criminologist, which means he “merges the fields of environmental psychology with geospatial investigation.” (Direct quote from the book.) Like a profiler, he works with the geographic details of a killer’s activities to figure out the where—and sometimes the when—of a crime. Recently relocated from New York City to Denver to raise his step-daughter closer to his parents, he’s called Asheville, North Carolina to help out in an investigation.

As he and the team work the case, they discover there are actually two killers, one of which has a tie to one of the most spectacular mass killings of the 1970’s. This killer has never forgotten the government’s response to the massacre and now he means to make the man in charge of that response—now an important elected official—pay, in a way the world will never forget.
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
This is Book 1 in the Patrick Bowers mysteries and it didn’t take me long to fall into “like” with this character. I’m not in love with him, but I really do like him.

The bad guy in this story epitomizes a champion chess player. One of the keys to chess is the ability to think several moves ahead, predicting what your opponent will do and making your moves based on that knowledge. The killer knows police tactics and makes his moves based on that knowledge, with amazing results. Bowers is stunned—almost to paralysis at one point—with how clever his opponent is.

He’s so clever that Pat begins to doubt himself and his ability to catch this guy. A tiny misstep with a colleague has him doubting himself even more. Everyone makes these kinds of missteps in life. It’s nice that our hero does as well, but he shows his humanity in the way he reacts to those missteps. He berates himself—mildly—and when he attempts to mend the misstep, we know it through his mental narrative. It’s nice to see this overt kind of vulnerability in a character. It makes him more likable, more real, more like someone we can connect with.

We like to see vulnerabilities in our heroes. That makes them human and we need to see that humanity, otherwise, we can never really connect with them. Bowers is a widow, his wife having died after only five months of marriage, leaving him with a sullen, 16-year-old stepdaughter. Sullen, 16-yuear-old daughters are hard enough to handle as they are, but a sullen, 16-year-old stepdaughter is ten times harder. Pat genuinely cares about Tessa, but he hardly knows her. The situation is made worse when the killer he’s tracking lets him know he knows all about Tessa. This causes Pat to go into over-protective mode, a move guaranteed to make Tessa resent him even more. By the end of the story, their relationship is resolved, but they begin to build a bridge of understanding. Their relationship is one of the reasons I’ll continue to red the series, to see how it eventually works out.

Steven James has five books out in this series. The next is The Rook,, followed by The Knight, The Bishop, and The Queen. Chess pieces, specifically the pawn, made an appearance in The Pawn. Do the other pieces appear in the other books? I’ll find when I read The Rook. Stay tuned!

I give this story FOUR STARS.

The Cut

2012-01-12T09:42:00.001-05:00

Wo-Hoo!! New Year, new reviews to post!! Okay, got that out of my system. On to the first review of 2012 ~~~

The Cut by George Pelecanos

Spero Lucas has a new line of work. Since he returned home after serving in Iraq, he has been doing special investigations for a defense attorney. He's good at it, and he has carved out a niche: recovering stolen property, no questions asked. His cut is forty percent.

A high-profile crime boss who has heard of Lucas's specialty hires him to find out who has been stealing from his operation. It's the biggest job Lucas has ever been offered, and he quickly gets a sense of what's going on. But before he can close in on what's been taken, he tangles with a world of men whose amorality and violence leave him reeling. Is any cut worth your family, your lover, your life?

--The Cut
by George Pelecanos
Copyright © 2011 by George Pelecanos
Published by Reagan Arthur Books

My Review

Spero Lucas, 29, ex-Marine and Iraq war vet, lives and makes his living in Washington D.C., a city I know well but not nearly as well as Pelecanos. Lucas is happy with is life and makes a good living as a “finder.” When an attorney he works for refers him to a new client, a drug dealer currently in jail, he’s a bit reluctant, but meets with the man. Anwan Hawkins has had a couple packages of his merchandise go missing. He wants Lucas to find them. Lucas doesn’t want to work for a drug dealer, but a job’s a job, so he takes it.

He meets with Hawkins’ #2 men, Tayvon Lynch and Edwin Davis and begins his investigation. Before long, a third package goes missing and Tayvon and Edwin wind up dead. Lucas stays away from that investigation, leaving it to the police, but he knows a police officer is involved in both the killings and in Hawkins’ missing packages, so how far can he stay away really?

And when a young teen goes missing, Lucas must pull out all the stops to rescue him and at the same time put a stop to the men responsible. Without winding up dead himself.

There’s a gritty, earthly feel to this story that’s not quite to my liking, but, despite that, I liked the telling of the tale. When a story makes references to an area or culture that you have to be a part of to really understand, and I am a part of that area or culture, it increases my enjoyment of the story. That’s why The Cut gets four stars from me. It’s a well-written, well told story and I’m looking forward to the next one in the series.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

With a Tear in our Eye...

2011-12-31T22:20:00.002-05:00

...we say goodbye to 2011. I make my book count this year at 65 (okay, that should probably be 64 since one of them is a repeat).

So here are a few stats:

Top 5 of 2011

1. The Enemy – Lee Child
2. Collide – Megan Hart
3. The Keeper of Lost Causes – Jussi Alder-Olsen
4. X Plagues – Mary Nealy
5. White Wind – Susan Edwards

This would have been a Top Ten, but I didn’t read enough books this year to have ten that I absolutely loved. If I had to pick five more, they would likely come from Lee Child and Susan Edwards. And maybe one David Baldacci.

Favorite new-to-me authors:

1. Mary Nealy (X Plagues)
2. Jussi Alder-Olsen (The Keeper of Lost Causes)
3. Susan Edwards (White Dawn, White Dusk, White Shadows. White Wind)
4. Harry Dolan (Bad Things Happen)

There were more new-to-me authors this year, but these three were my favorite. I’ll keep an eye out for Mary Nealy to see if/when she writes another book, Jussi Alder-Olsen has written three books in his Department Q series, but since I don’t read Danish, I’ll have to wait for the other two to be translated to English and released here in America, and the next four installments in Susan Edwards’ White series will be out in February 2012.

I would like to add a fifth “honorable mention” favorite author: Steven James. I’m still reading his first book, The Pawn. Since it’s the year end and I’m still reading it, it hasn’t made my review list yet, but I already know I like his writing and he’ll be one of my favorites in 2012.

So thanks to my busier schedule, I haven’t read as much this year as I did last year (79 books in 2010, 65 in 2011), but with good reason. Going to the gym several days a week took some reading time away—though I compensate by listening to audio books as I work out—and starting school in October took away even more. I don’t like that I spend less time reading for pleasure, but given what I’m gaining in exchange (lost almost 60 lbs and working on a college degree), I’d say it’s for the better. I hope to read at least as many books in the coming year.

2010 saw a lot of Nora Roberts and Jayne Ann Krentz and 2011 was a blitz of Lee Child. I know 2012 will have a lot of Susan Edwards as I read the remainder of the White series, but I hope to discover more new-to-me authors that I will love as much as these.

How about you? Have you been inspired to read more in the new year?

Oh...and I suppose it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, yes, this blog will continue into the new year.

Deliver Us from Evil

2011-12-21T09:40:00.001-05:00

Deliver Us from Evil by David Baldacci

Evan Waller is a monster.

He has built a fortune from his willingness to buy and sell anything . . . and anyone. In search of new opportunities, Waller has just begun a new business venture: one that could lead to millions of deaths all over the globe. On his trail is Shaw, the mysterious operative from The Whole Truth, who has tracked Waller to Provence and must prevent him from closing his latest deal. But someone else is pursuing Waller: Reggie Campion, an agent for a secret vigilante group headquartered in a musty old English estate-and she has an agenda of her own.

Hunting the same man and unaware of each other's mission, Shaw and Reggie will be caught in a deadly duel of nerves and wits.

--Deliver Us from Evil
by David Baldacci
Copyright © 2010 by David Baldacci
Published by Grand Central Publishing

My Review

Evan Waller is a man with two lives. In his past, as Fedir Kuchin, he was a war criminal and mass murderer from the Ukraine. He faked his death to avoid prosecution and emerged as Evan Waller, Canadian businessman. He made his millions in human trafficking and now wants to branch out into international terrorism by dealing in nuclear material.

Unaware of his previous identity, Shaw and his boss, Frank, want to take him down because he threatens the balance of power in the world. They figure his upcoming vacation in Provence, France, is the perfect place.

Reggie Campion and her team also think Provence is the perfect place to take down Waller. They, unlike Shaw, are aware of his previous identity. Her organization tracks down war criminals who have escaped persecution and deliver final justice to them. They are aware of his current identity and profession, but they want to take him down for his past deeds.

The nuclear deal is abruptly aborted, so Shaw is called off Waller’s tail. But before he can leave Provence, Reggie’s team takes him hostage. Seems Shaw and Reggie—working under aliases—were getting too close for comfort and Reggie’s boss orders Shaw’s detainment.

Waller/Kuchin manages to escape Reggie’s trap in Provence and now he turns his sights on getting his revenge against the people who would seek to take him down. And he finds a most unlikely route…through Katie James.

Sometimes you want the details, and other times, you don’t, wanting to rely on your own imagination to fill in the blanks. Think of the scene in “Silence of the Lambs” where Clarice Starling is shown a picture of one of Lecter’s victims. We see her reaction to the photo, but we never see the photo. The horror of what she’s seeing is left to our imagination. Baldacci doesn’t leave the horrific actions of Fedir Kuchin/Evan Waller to our imaginations. He tells us, in graphic, gory detail, exactly how evil and sadistic this man is. It’s a testament to a skilled storyteller and yet, I can’t help wondering how good the story might have been if he had left something to our imaginations.

Baldacci created a wonderful heroine in Reggie Campion, and as the story progressed, I couldn’t help wondering when/if Katie James was going to make an appearance beyond more than just a phone call and a quick “hi” at a Paris café. She almost could have been edited out of the story entirely, except she’s the route Kuchin/Waller takes to get to Shaw. I liked Katie in The Whole Truth but I have to confess, I like Reggie more. She’s more of a match for Shaw than Katie ever was.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

The Whole Truth

2011-12-21T08:53:00.001-05:00

The Whole Truth by David Baldacci

"Dick, I need a war."

Nicolas Creel is a man on a mission. He heads up the world's largest defense contractor, The Ares Corporation. Dick Pender is the man Creel retains to "perception manage" his company to even more riches by manipulating international conflicts. But Creel may have an even grander plan in mind.

Shaw, a man with no first name and a truly unique past, has a different agenda. Reluctantly doing the bidding of a secret multi-national intelligence agency, he travels the globe to keep it safe and at peace.

Willing to do anything to get back to the top of her profession, Katie James is a journalist who has just gotten the break of a lifetime: the chance to interview the sole survivor of a massacre that has left every nation stunned.

In this terrifying, global thriller, these characters' lives will collide head-on as a series of events is set in motion that could change the world as we know it.

--The Whole Truth
by David Baldacci
Copyright © 2008 by David Baldacci
Published by Grand Central Publishing

My Review

Defense contractor and multi-multi-millionaire Nicholas Creel is not happy. The world is seemingly at peace, no major wars going on, and that’s not good for business. He needs a war, so he has his perception manager, Dick Pender, start one. And start one he does. He plants false stories about the Russians and the rumors spread with the speed and efficiency you’d expect from our internet-driven society.

Shaw hears the stories, but he has other things on his mind. A kind of global policeman for a shadowy international agency, he travels the world to take care of problems, big or small, that might impact the global power balance. He’s very good at what he does, going into hairy situations that would get most people killed within the first two minutes and always manages to come out alive. He’s ready to retire so he can marry Anna Fischer, the love of his life, but his boss has a stranglehold on him that he cannot easily escape.

Katie James, an award winning journalist on a downward slide fueled by alcohol, happens upon Shaw as he attempts to take down a group of drug dealers in Scotland. Barely escaping with their lives, they go their separate ways, only to be reunited as they join forces to take down the man responsible for starting Cold War II.

The story is marred by occasional cliché’d dialogue and implausible characters, but it also fast paced and full of action. The plot is both believable and unbelievable, in that you can’t believe something like this could really happen, and yet you’re afraid it really could. A good escapist read.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

White Wind

2011-12-13T10:01:00.002-05:00

White Wind by Susan Edwards

Dakota Territory, 1828

Alone in the world since the death of the man who raised her, Sarah Cartier is forced to flee her home to escape her abusive guardian. No sooner does she ride off into the untamed wilderness than she is swept away by Golden Eagle, the Sioux brave who saved her life once before. Insisting that Sarah belongs to him, Golden Eagle brings her to his village to learn the ways of his people. Her fantasies becoming reality, Sarah is a willing captive--but she fears the danger she'll bring when her guardian finds her.

The blue-eyed beauty has haunted his dreams ever since their first encounter. Now Golden Eagle is determined to claim her as his own. As future chief, Golden Eagle is betrothed to the daughter of another tribe. Consumed by passion for Sarah, he knows he will be forced to choose between love and duty...

--White Wind
by Susan Edwards
Copyright © 2011 by Susan Edwards
Published by Carina Press ebooks

My Review

Remember Emily Ambrose and John Cartier of White Dawn? They’re gone now, but their daughter Sarah is all grown up…and in danger from her guardian cousin Willy. He’s determined to have her and her inheritance for himself. If she doesn’t agree, he’ll tell everyone the secret of her true parentage.

So she runs and lands in the path of Golden Eagle, a warrior she met several years earlier. He and other warriors are looking for the men who kidnapped and murdered two of their women. Concerned for her safety, he convinces her to return with him to his tribe as his captive. It’s the only way he can keep her safe.

Sarah quickly adapts to the ways of the Miniconjou tribe and to loving Golden Eagle. But their future is uncertain because Golden Eagle is set to wed Wild Flower, the daughter of Chief White Cloud of the Hunkpapa, an arrangement made to bring peace to the two tribes. Neither Golden Eagle nor Wild Flower wish to wed each other, but marriage between the eldest son of Hawk Eyes and eldest daughter of White Cloud must occur to fulfill the terms of the peace treaty. Time is running out, and it’s running out faster than either could imagine, for Cousin Willy is hot on their trail. He wants Sarah and her money, and he won’t stop until he finds her.

Readers of the series, of course, know Sarah’s secret, and can easily deduce the solution to Golden Eagle and Wild Flower’s dilemma. Susan Edwards hides this solution behind a dark veil…you can see its form but can’t quite make out the details.

This story captured my imagination and wouldn’t let go until the final page. I can’t wait for the remaining books to be released. Don’t miss out on this series!

This story was first published in 2003, the remaining stories in the series following naturally. They’re being re-released by Carina Press and the first four books are available on their web site. Click here to order from Carina Press or the below link to order from Amazon.com.

I give this story FOUR and a HALF stars.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.

White Shadows

2011-12-13T10:00:00.002-05:00

White Shadows by Susan Edwards

Dakota Territory, 1838

Night Shadow is driven by the need for vengeance, to find and punish the man who murdered his family and kidnapped his sister. And what better way to exact that revenge than by stealing his enemy's intended bride on their wedding day: a woman for a woman. He will release his captive if and when his sister is returned to him.
The daughter of a great chief and no meek maiden, Winona fights her captor every step of the way. But she cannot deny that the warrior's touch arouses something in her that her betrothed never has. She sees through the anger in Night Shadow's eyes to the despair within, and knows in her heart it is her destiny to help him learn to live again.

Night Shadow is mesmerized by Winona's beauty and spirit, and soon realizes he must face his past and end the hatred in order to offer her a future.

--White Shadows
by Susan Edwards
Copyright © 2011 by Susan Edwards
Published by Carina Press ebooks

My Review

Winona, daughter of Chief Hawk Eyes, is preparing to marry the man she loves, Hoka Luta, the medicine man of another tribe. But Night Shadow has other plans.

Night Shadow wants his revenge and is determined to keep Winona at arm’s length until he has his sister back, but he can’t help his attraction to his spirited captive. She’s promised to another, but the longer she’s with Night Shadow, the more she realizes how weak her love for Hoka Luta is, and how strong it is for her captor. When he finally tells Winona his story, she is determined to help him expose the traitor and find his sister.

Little did anyone know his sister was closer than anyone could imagine…

The location of Night Shadow’s sister was almost convenient, but under Susan Edwards’ skillful storytelling, it didn’t seem convenient. I certainly never saw it coming…I figured his search for her in White Shadows was going to be the setup for a future novel, but it is nicely concluded in this one.

The “captive falling in love with her captor” is a well-used, almost predictable plot and it weakens the story a bit, but the attraction between Night Shadow and Winona is strong and well written. A wonderful addition to the series.

This story was first published in 2003, the remaining stories in the series following naturally. They’re being re-released by Carina Press and the first four books are available on their web site. Click here to order from Carina Press or the below link to order from Amazon.com.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.

Dark Peril

2011-11-29T10:23:00.001-05:00

Dark Peril by Christine Feehan

Carpathian Dominic Dragonseeker has taken a desperate gamble by ingesting deadly vampire parasites that will help him infiltrate cruel enemies who seek to destroy his peaceful race. He never counted on finding his lifemate under these dire circumstances, but to his shock, his dreams of a jaguar shape-shifter turn into reality when he meets warrior Solange Sangria. Solange is bent on destroying her evil father and his cohorts, who murder women and conduct hideous scientific experiments. Dominic and Solange must learn to fight side by side and trust each other to protect the innocent and heal their old wounds.

--Dark Peril
by Christine Feehan
Copyright © 2010 by Christine Feehan
Published by Berkeley Hardcover
Reprinted October 2011 in paperback by Jove Books

My Review

I’ve long enjoyed Christine Feehan’s books, but I have to say, the sexual depravity by some of the characters in a couple of her most recent books have left me with a bad taste in my mouth. This one contains similar elements by supporting characters (not the main protagonists) and I can’t help wondering if this is becoming a staple in her books. Yes, there are plenty of depraved people out there, but that doesn’t mean all of us readers enjoy reading the details of their demented thoughts.

This is probably the lowest review I've ever given a Christine Feehan book, but I could barely bring myself to finish this story. One of the things I've always loved about her characters is their passionate nature that's constantly at war with their savage nature. But this time, it was just over the top. Long paragraphs of narration about how everything in their world has changed now that they found their life mate and the same information is repeated again and again and again ad nauseum. I started listening to the audio version of the book and had to stop and finish it by reading the novel. It was much easier to skip over the unbearable parts that way.

To quickly summarize, Solange is the last pureblood of the royal Jaguar line. Her father, Broderick, has been on a campaign to kill any female with Jaguar blood that cannot shift. He thought years ago he had killed Solange, but she's still alive. Joined with Dominic, her life mate, they fight to destroy Broderick's operation. At the same time, they work to destroy the vampires that Broderick has allied himself with in his quest.

For those who may think I'm no longer a fan, you're wrong. I do still enjoy her novels and I'm looking forward to the next Sea Haven novel. I'm eager to learn more about the Prakenskii men...I just hope it's not as repetitive as the Carpathians have become.

I give this story TWO STARS.

She's back!

2011-11-29T09:29:00.000-05:00

I didn't disappear off the face of the earth, nor did I go on a six week vacation (I wish!). No, what I did was enroll myself into an on-line university course so I could start getting my Bachelor's degree. The classes are only six weeks long, however, they're very intense with a lot of reading and writing to do. I did some reading for pleasure, but as you can see by the posts, only four books. My next class starts Monday, so with a week off, I figured I'd better get caught up on stuff I was putting off.

BY the way, if you're in the Northern Virginia area, would you like to adopt a couple of kittens?

My nephew's wife wants the grey one, and my other nephew has dibs on the red (though I don't know if he'll be able to keep it). The two blondes, both boys, are available and we'd like them to go as a pair. So if you're interested, or you know someone who might be (AND THEY'RE IN No. VA! Seriously, I'm not driving cross-country to deliver a couple of kittens to someone.), let me know!

The First Family

2011-11-28T22:40:00.002-05:00

The First Family by David Baldacci

It began with what seemed like an ordinary children's birthday party. Friends and family gathered to celebrate. There were balloons and cake, games and gifts.

This party, however, was far from ordinary. It was held at Camp David, the presidential retreat. And it ended with a daring kidnapping . . . which immediately turned into a national security nightmare.

Sean King and Michelle Maxwell were not looking to become involved. As former Secret Service agents turned private investigators, they had no reason to be. The FBI doesn't want them interfering. But years ago, Sean King saved the First Lady's husband, then a senator, from political disaster. Now, Sean is the one person the First Lady trusts, and she presses Sean and Michelle into the desperate search to rescue the abducted child.

With Michelle still battling her own demons, and forces aligned on all sides against her and Sean, the two are pushed to the absolute limit. In the race to save an innocent victim, the line between friend and foe will become impossible to define . . . or defend.

--The First Family
by DAVID BALDACCI
Copyright © 2011 by DAVID BALDACCI
Published by PUBLISHER

My Review

Another Sean King/Michelle Maxwell adventure, this one finds the two seemingly on their feet and working to build their business. Years ago, when Sean was still with the Secret Service, he happened to meet Dan Cox, the new senator from Georgia in, shall we say, a compromising position? He returned the inebriated gentleman to his wife and kept the identity of the woman he was with a secret. Years later, First Lady Jane Cox calls Sean for help. Her niece, Willa, has been kidnapped. Will he and Michelle please work with the FBI to find her?

Naturally, they take the case and uncover a plot that digs deep into a father's need to avenge his daughter.

I won't say any more, because I think you might have caught a little bit of the plot that I just threw at you. The basic motive of the bad guy was pretty easy to work out, but it was the execution of his plan, and how Sean and Michelle worked to uncover it, that kept me interested in the story. Baldacci's plots are both simple and intricate at the same time, making the reader actually think about what's happening. That's why I like him so much. As an added plus, Michelle finally uncovers the memory that she's been blocking all this time. Now that she has, I hope she can finally heal. I'll find out eventually as The 6th Man is in my "to listen to" queue.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

White Dusk

2011-11-28T22:02:00.003-05:00

White Dusk by Susan Edwards

Dakota Territory, 1810

Nothing is more important to Swift Foot than restoring his family's honor, not even love. Though his heart belongs to another, he agrees to wed Small Bird, in the hopes that the marriage will end a war. A war that began when his own father chose love over duty to his people...

Small Bird believes she is destined to stand by Swift Foot's side as his wife, that their shared past has shaped their future. She knows he does not wish to marry despite the desire she sees in his eyes, but she is determined to win his heart as well as his respect.

Just as passion flares between the newlyweds, the enemy draws near. And the wife of Swift Foot is their target...

--White Dusk
by Susan Edwards
Copyright © 2011 by Susan Edwards
Published by Carina Press ebooks

My Review

Swift Foot has returned to his Hunkpapa clan and been made chief of his people. Now he must marry Small Bird to bring peace to the two clans. But for some, the Miniconjou to be exact, peace cannot come until Swift Foot, the product of a Hunkpapa Indian and a white woman, is dead. By marrying him, Small Bird puts herself in harm’s way.

But the threat to her life isn’t the only thing Small Bird must contend with within her marriage. Her new husband loves another, a white woman. Though he assures her she is out of his life, she isn’t out of his heart. Can Small Bird find a way to bring peace to the Hunkpapa and Miniconjou and at the same time, banish the spirit of the white woman from Swift Foot’s heart and fill the space with her own?

Ah, now we know what happened to Emily’s lover from White Dawn. Though I was sad to see Swift Foot and Emily’s parting, they needed to experience their love for each other in order to fully love the ones they eventually married. It was a difficult task the author set out for herself in the plot of this story, but she handled it beautifully and in a way that doesn’t feel forced or false.

Susan Edwards shows her mastery of the craft in the way she brought Swift Foot and Small Bird together. I know the characters in the remaining stories in the series will find themselves in similarly heart-wrenching situations, but under her skillful pen, they will find their way to their true heart’s desires.

This story was first published in 2002, the remaining stories in the series following naturally. They’re being re-released by Carina Press and the first four books are available on their web site. Click here to order from Carina Press or the below link to order from Amazon.com.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.

White Dawn

2011-11-28T21:59:00.003-05:00

White Dawn by Susan Edwards

Missouri River, 1810

Broken-hearted and abandoned in the wilds of America's untamed West, sixteen-year-old Emily Ambrose is rescued from certain death by solitary trapper John Cartier. Though she's learned the hard way not to trust any man, she can't help but feel safe with the kind stranger.

John can't imagine anyone willingly letting Emily go. Her strength and beauty call to him, but it is clear her wounded heart needs time to heal, and he won't settle for just her body. He vows to return Emily to civilization-and to resist the desire growing between them, unless she turns to him out of love.

Emily is drawn to her rugged but gentle rescuer, and begins to feel the passion that a woman can feel for a man. But she can't embrace a future with John as long as she's haunted by secrets of the past...

--White Dawn
by Susan Edwards
Copyright © 2011 by Susan Edwards
Published by Carina Press ebooks

My Review

I’m usually not a fan of historical novels, but the overall story arch of the twelve “White” stories that Susan Edwards penned intrigued me, so I decided to give them a try. I’m glad I did.

Emily is actually rescued from death twice. The first time, she is saved from a pair of wolves by a Sioux Indian named Swift Foot. They travel together through the spring an early summer and Emily finds herself falling in love with Swift Foot. Because of the language barrier, they’re not able to converse, but they find a way to, ahem, communicate. Swift Foot wants to keep Emily for himself, but loyalty to his people has him leaving her to rejoin them. He doesn’t abandon Emily—he leaves her where he knows she’ll be found by a trapper he knows, John Cartier.

Though John finds himself drawn to the golden-haired beauty, she has her secrets and they keep her from returning his affection. As much as she tries, Emily cannot deny the pull on her heart. But what will John do when he learns the truth?

This story is a wonderful beginning to the series and I'm eagerly looking forward to the remaining stories.

This story was first published in 2002, the remaining stories in the series following naturally. They’re being re-released by Carina Press and the first four books are available on their web site. Click here to order from Carina Press or the below link to order from Amazon.com.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.

Canyons of Night

2011-10-18T00:00:00.003-04:00

Canyos of Night by Jayne Castle

The island of Rainshadow is home to the mysterious, privately-owned woods known only as the Preserve. Now, after fifteen years away, both Charlotte Enright and her teen crush, Slade Attridge, have returned. But will their psi talents and Slade's dust bunny companion be enough to keep them from getting drawn into the darkness at the heart of the Preserve?

--Canyons of Night
by Jayne Castle
Copyright © 2011 by Jayne Ann Krentz
Published by Putnam Adult

My Review
Canyons of Night follows the same predictable pattern as the previous two books in the series. The beginning where Charlotte and Slade first meet as teenagers was sweet, and I like that they’re reunited fifteen years later as they both return to Rainshadow and seize the opportunity to pursue their attraction as adults. But from there, the plot follows the same predictable patterns that I won’t bother describing because, as I said, it’s predictable.

If I haven’t mentioned it before, the standard “villain explains his/her motive to the heroine right before he/she delivers the killing blow only to be interrupted and arrested/killed by the hero” trope that Krentz/Quick/Castle employs needs to be put to rest. She’s not the only author who employs it, but her use of it stands out in my mind because she seems to use it in every novel she’s written lately.

One of Mrs. Bridewell’s Clockwork Curiosities makes an appearance, as does the eponymous Looking Glass, but again, the mirror almost seems like an afterthought. Why name a series after an item that barely makes an appearance?

There is a place on the island called simply The Preserve. The land is privately owned and it’s protected by a “fence” that interferes with a person’s psi abilities and effectively keeps people out. Most people, anyway. There are a select few, Slade being one of them, who can cross the barrier and enter The Preserve. Activity inside The Preserve is “heating up,” and it’s an obvious set-up for another series of Harmony-only based stories. Hopefully, Ms. Krentz/Castle will stay away from the tropes and come up with a new plot for this series.

Rex, the dust bunny, was probably the only really interesting, fun character in the story.

I give this story THREE STARS because I’m glad this series is over.

The Affair

2011-10-15T14:37:00.003-04:00

The Affair by Lee Child

Everything starts somewhere. . . .For elite military cop Jack Reacher, that somewhere was Carter Crossing, Mississippi, way back in 1997. A lonely railroad track. A crime scene. A coverup.

A young woman is dead, and solid evidence points to a soldier at a nearby military base. But that soldier has powerful friends in Washington.

Reacher is ordered undercover—to find out everything he can, to control the local police, and then to vanish. Reacher is a good soldier. But when he gets to Carter Crossing, he finds layers no one saw coming, and the investigation spins out of control.

Local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux has a thirst for justice—and an appetite for secrets. Uncertain they can trust one another, Reacher and Deveraux reluctantly join forces. Reacher works to uncover the truth, while others try to bury it forever. The conspiracy threatens to shatter his faith in his mission, and turn him into a man to be feared.

--The Affair
by Lee Child
Copyright © Sep 27, 2011 by Lee Child
Published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House

My Review

In my last Lee Child review for Worth Dying For, I was less than enthused by Reacher’s motivation for sticking around and resolving the mystery. May I say my enthusiasm has been revitalized.

In The Affair, Jack Reacher is talking to us, telling us the story of how he got kicked out of the Army. I knew, from book one, that Reacher’s departure from the Army was not a voluntary thing and I wanted to know how it all came about. And now, with this story, we know.

Reacher is sent undercover to the town of Carter Crossing, Mississippi to help another Army investigator figure out if anyone from Fort Kelham, the nearby Army base, is responsible for the death of a local girl. The other investigator, Munro, will work on base while Reacher works the town. He meets the town sheriff, Elizabeth Deveraux and, being a former Marine Chief Warrant Officer herself, easily makes Reacher for who he is. They team up to figure out the mysteries surrounding Fort Kelham and the mystery of the deaths of five—not one, but five local people.

I think Reacher took justice a little bit too far in this story, but I guess that’s just Reacher’s way, and he had to take it too far in order to achieve the end result—his removal from the U.S. Army. There’s also some intriguing foreshadowing… Backshadowing? Hindsight? Flashback? … okay, I don’t know if the right term exists, but there’s a hint toward the events that take place in Child’s first book, The Killing Floor. It almost—almost—makes me want to pick up the first book and read it again.

I’m glad to finally have the answer to one of the mysteries that surround Jack Reacher, namely why he left the Army. I was also happy to see Frances Neagley make an appearance. She’s another intriguing mystery and I hope to see her again in a future Reacher novel, however, in a recent interview, the author said that is unlikely to happen.

I give this story FOUR and a HALF STARS.

Finishing this book actually made me a little sad. Now that I’ve read all the Jack Reacher novels (in less than a year, mind you), I have to wait at least another year for the next novel to come out. Fortunately for me, I have a lot of other novels to fill that void. But I’ll be watching…and waiting…

Dr. Morgan Snow: In Session

2011-10-15T10:39:00.000-04:00

Dr. Morgan Snow: In Session by MJ Rose

IN SESSION from international bestseller M.J. Rose, features the return of Dr. Morgan Snow, in a brand-new story collection!

As a therapist specializing in sexual issues, psychiatrist Dr. Morgan Snow isn't easily shocked, or shaken, as readers of the popular "Butterfield Institute" novels know. There are times, however, when the need for her services leads her out of the office... and into unfamiliar worlds.

In these stories the therapist matches her wits -and her training - against three men of mystery: Jack Reacher, John Rain, and Cotton Malone.

Those characters are, of course, familiar to readers as the creations, respectively, of NYT bestselling authors Lee Child, Barry Eisler, and Steve Berry. All three swore that their characters would never agree to therapy - unless Rose found a way to get then there. And she did.

In EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES with Steve Berry's Cotton Malone, a woman seeks help for her lover, and sends Dr. Snow overseas on a most unusual house call....

DECISIONS, DECISIONS where Barry Eisler's John Rain forces Dr. Snow out of her own comfort zone, and into the world of a former patient's worst nightmare...

And KNOWING YOU'RE ALIVE with Lee Child's Jack Reacher results in revelations for both the injured Dr. Snow, and her unexpected savior/patient...

--Dr. Morgan Snow: In Session
by MJ Rose
Copyright © 2011 by MJ Rose
Published by Amazon.com as a Kindle e-Book release

My Review

As my regular readers know, I’m a major fan of Jack Reacher, but I’ve also read a couple books in Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone series and I’ve read the first in Barry Eisler’s John Rain series (I do plan to read more, I promise—both Cotton Malone and John Rain). So when an author has one of her characters interacting with characters I know and enjoy, I had to give it a read. Her character, Dr. Morgan Snow, is a sex therapist based at the Butterfield Institute and she has the opportunity to interact with all three of these wonderful characters. Oh…only one is having a slight problem that she’s able to help professionally. The other two…well, she has different reasons to interact with them.

I felt Rose had both John Rain and Cotton Malone down perfectly, but she made two mistakes with Jack Reacher. Regular Reacher readers will have no trouble spotting the errors. But still, it was a fun, quick read and I liked it.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS. It would have been four, except for those two errors.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.

The story will be available for purchase through Amazon.com on October 17, 2011.

Quicksilver

2011-10-15T00:52:00.000-04:00

Quicksilver by Amanda Quick

Virginia Dean wakes at midnight beside a dead body, with a bloody knife in her hand and no memory of the evening's events. Dark energy, emanating from the mirrors lining the room, overpowers her senses. With no apparent way in or out, she is rescued by a man she has met only once before, but won't soon forget.

Owen Sweetwater inherited his family's talent for hunting the psychical monsters who prey on London's women and children, and his investigation into the deaths of two glass-readers has led him here. The high-society types of the exclusive Arcane Society would consider Virginia an illusionist, a charlatan, even a criminal, but Owen knows better. Virginia's powers are real-and they just might be the key to solving this challenging case.

--Quicksilver
by Amanda Quick
Copyright © 2011 by Jayne Ann Krentz
Published by Putnam Adult

My Review

I liked the character of Virginia Dean, even though she seems like a carbon copy of all the other Amanda Quick heroines in the Arcane Society series. And Owen Sweetwater? Well, he’s like a carbon copy of the other Amanda Quick heroes in the Arcane Society series. The sameness of the characters and plots, along with the very formal Victorian-style language made the story a bit difficult for me to read.

That being said, Quicksilver also gives us some background into the Clockwork Curiosities that appeared in the first novel, In Too Deep. The Quicksilver Mirror makes an appearance in this novel and we discover its true potential as a weapon when it’s used against Owen. Naturally, Owen recovers from the psychic shock and the mirror is neutralized and turned over to the Arcane Society for safe keeping.

So now I can’t help wondering how big a part it and the Clockwork Curiosities will play in the third novel in the series, Canyons of Night.

I give this story THREE STARS.

Tortured Rake

2011-10-14T11:29:00.001-04:00

The Tortured Rake by Sarah Morgan

Nathaniel... Icon. Celebrity.Heartthrob. Underneath the movie star's good looks is a man battling with the demons of his past. No one knows the real Nathaniel, they only see the pin-up, the man he pretends to be. Until one night he is forced to rely on Katie Field, an ordinary young woman from a very different world to Nathaniel's. She may be starstuck but she isn't blinded by the bright lights of fame. Can Nathaniel trust her enough to reveal the man behind the mask? Let the seduction begin...

--The Tortured Rake
by Sarah Morgan
Copyright © 2011 by Sarah Morgan
Published by Harlequin UK

My Review

This was a nice, light-hearted romance, so different from the stories I’ve been reading lately. Most romance novels focus on the woman, so it was nice to read one where the man was the primary focus. Nathaniel had a traumatic childhood and turned to acting to escape, burying the secrets of his past. Katie is also hiding, though not from her past. She’s very different from her glamorous, supermodel sister and does everything she can to not be like her.

Together, Nathaniel and Katie make an unlikely pair, but their opposing personality types are exactly what each other needs to break out of the cages they’ve locked themselves in. Katie brings out Nathaniel’s fun side and makes him see he can have a personal impact on people, not just his screen/stage persona, and Nathaniel brings Katie out of her shell, making her see herself for the beautiful person she is. He also gives her career a well-deserved boost while she helps him figure out how to slay his personal demons.

These two make a great couple and showcase what a great romance should be…fun, passion, a touch of angst and emotional healing on both side, culminating in a kiss that burns the pages.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley, however, the book was released by Harlequin UK in May 2011. It may no longer be commercially available, but can be found through on-line used book sellers or in your local used book store. The link below can connect you to some of those on-line used book sellers.

Bad Things Happen

2011-09-24T15:19:00.000-04:00

Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan

The man who calls himself David Loogan is hoping to escape a violent past by living a quiet, anonymous life in Ann Arbor, Michigan. But when he's hired as an editor at a mystery magazine, he is drawn into an affair with the sleek blond wife of the publisher, Tom Kristoll-a man who soon turns up dead.

Elizabeth Waishkey is the most talented detective in the Ann Arbor Police Department, but even she doesn't know if Loogan is a killer or an ally who might help her find the truth. As more deaths start mounting up-some of them echoing stories published in the magazine-it's up to Elizabeth to solve both the murders and the mystery of Loogan himself.

--Bad Things Happen
by Harry Dolan
Copyright © 2009 by Harry Dolan
Published by Penguin Group

My Review
The story starts slowly, introducing the reader to David Loogan and the quiet life he’s living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. But his quiet life isn’t quiet for very long. Tom Kristoll, his boss and owner of Gray Streets literary magazine, needs a favor. He needs to bury a body. Not long afterward, Tom Kristoll is dead.

From there, David’s life begins to change, and his quiet, peaceful, anonymous world slowly begins to unravel. The lead investigator, Detective Elizabeth Waishkey, is suspicious of him because he seems to be completely open and honest, and yet also seems to be hiding something. Who exactly is the man calling himself David Loogan? What’s he hiding in his past and why does he seem to know too much about how a murder investigation is conducted?

When a man is found in David’s home, stabbed with one of David’s own knives, David goes on the run. He needs to find out who’s behind all the deaths and why. He doesn’t quite trust the cops to do the job, but he trusts Elizabeth. Can they unravel the twisted web of lives and deaths before any more Bad Things Happen?

The story really does start a bit slow, even though the opening chapter starts with the burying of a body, but if you invest your time in the beginning, it will pay off by the end.

After the initial start, the tension gradually starts to build, like climbing the first hill of the world’s largest roller coaster. There you are, sitting in the front seat, watching that far-off curl of track that’ll rocket you down the rest of the ride. You’re waiting, your heart picking up speed, your breath growing short, listening to each and every click of the track, watching that curl grow closer and closer. And with each and every click of the track, with each page that you turn, the tension grows stronger and stronger until you finally reach that moment when you go over that smooth curl of track. You’re off and rolling, screaming down that first hill, climbing the next, going through an unexpected tunnel and rocketing up around a double loop. A helix spins you round and round and you have to hold on tight, because you’re being pulled one way and pushed the other. You’re thrown back in your seat and pressed forward. You’re going through twist and turns, bumps and jerks, going up and down until finally, blessedly finally, you come to the end and you think to yourself, “now that was a ride!”.

Yeah. It’s like that.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

Worth Dying For

2011-09-19T20:14:00.002-04:00

Worth Dying For by Lee Child

There’s deadly trouble in the corn country of Nebraska…and Jack Reacher walks right into it. First he falls foul of the Duncans, a local clan that has terrified an entire county into submission. But it’s the unsolved, decades-old case of a missing child that Reacher can’t let go.

The Duncans want Reacher gone—and it’s not just past secrets they’re trying to hide. For as dangerous as the Duncans are, they’re just the bottom of a criminal food chain stretching halfway around the world. For Reacher, it would have made much more sense to put some distance between himself and the hard-core trouble that’s bearing down on him. For Reacher, that was also impossible.

--Worth Dying For
by Lee Child
Copyright © 2010 by Lee Child
Published by Dell

My Review

All he wanted was a cup of coffee and a place to stay for the night. (Isn’t that what he always wants?) Instead, while trying to do the right thing for a woman in trouble, Jack Reacher manages to make an enemy out of the most powerful family in the county. (Isn’t that what he always does?)

The Duncans rule their corner of Nebraska with an iron fist. They own the only produce trucking company in the area, so if you’re a farmer with produce to get hauled, you call the Duncans or you don’t get your produce hauled. But shipping corn and alfalfa isn’t the company’s only business and if anyone in the area finds out what else they’re shipping, they could find themselves in a world of trouble.

So it’s in their best interest if Reacher would get out of town.

Problem is, he won’t.

He could walk away, head south toward the highway which will take him to Virginia, his intended destination and several times he’s on the verge of doing just that, but it’s the story of an eight year old girl, missing for twenty-five years, that keeps drawing him back. Children and women in trouble are two of his soft spots, and mysteries that remain unsolved bother him. So Reacher is going to stay until he gets to the bottom of the mystery, and he will get to the bottom of it, no matter who gets in his way.

In most of the previous novels in this series, Reacher always has a compelling reason to stay and figure out the mystery he’s presented with. In The Killing Floor, Reacher stays in Margrave, GA because that’s where his brother was killed, and he’s determined to find out who did it. In Die Trying, he was kidnapped and needs to get himself and his fellow kidnappee to safety. In Tripwire, the woman he loves is in danger. Et cetera, et cetera. In Worth Dying For, the reason isn’t quite so compelling. This time, it’s his own personal sense of justice that keeps him in town until the mystery is solved. And while that can be a very strong reason to stay and fight, somehow, it just didn’t feel like enough to me.

Granted, this is a good story with an interest cast of supporting characters with ulterior motives. I love the scenes with Reacher at the Courtyard Marriott and the almost-comically crossed wires the supporting characters get tangled up in. But for all its good points, it fell a little short for me.

I give this story THREE STARS.

The Best American Mystery Stories 2011

2011-09-19T20:13:00.002-04:00

The Best American Mystery Stories 2011 Edited by Harlan Coben & Otto Penzler

Best-selling novelist Harlan Coben, a master of suspense and creator of the critically-acclaimed Myron Bolitar series, edits this latest collection of the must-reads in mysteries from the past year.

-- The Best American Mystery Stories 2011
Edited by Harlan Coben & Otto Penzler
Copyright ©October 2011
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing

My Review

This is a good collection of stories featuring a variety of styles under the mystery genre. Some made me laugh while others made me scratch my head, trying to figure out exactly what the mystery in the story was. Like any collection of short stories, some tales hit the mark while other missed. It’s all a matter of personal taste. Overall, I liked this collection and would definitely recommend it to mystery lovers.

I give this book THREE and a HALF STARS.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.

Available for pre-order at Amazon.com

The Guardian

2011-09-09T12:01:00.001-04:00

The Guardian by Robbie Cheuvront and Erik Reed

A Mysterious Scroll Holds the Key to Mankind's Destiny

A young woman thrust into a world of power and corruption...
The sold-out follower of Christ who vows to defend her...
And the scroll that links them both together...

Anna Riley has just stumbled across a family secret--her ancestors have been keepers of an ancient scroll that God gave to John the Disciple. And now it's hers. But Anna will soon discover that being the keeper of the Scroll comes at a price, for there are those inside the Church who would have the scroll and its secrets at any cost. Sucked into a world of corruption and deceit, Anna is thrust into a journey that leads her half way around the world. And the only person she can trust is a stranger named Jason Lang who, she's told, was appointed by God to help her with the task.

As Anna and Jason race against the clock, Anna's own journey of faith may very well be the thing that unlocks the scroll's secrets. And her decisions will determine whether the man she's grown to love will live or die, as a mystery that's eluded the world since the time of Adam and Eve is finally revealed.

--The Guardian
by Robbie Cheuvront and Erik Reed
Copyright ©2011 by Robbie Cheuvront and Erik Reed
Published by Barbour Publishing

My Review

When the grandfather she never knew passes away, Anna becomes the keeper of a vitally important Christian artifact. In the book of Revelation, an angel of Christ gave John the Disciple a scroll containing a riddle that would reveal the answer to a centuries-old mystery. The problem is, she has to find the scroll and then find the answer to the mystery.

Assisting her on this quest is Father Vincent Marcella, her grandfather Thomas’s friend and guardian. The clues her grandfather left her lead them first to Venezuela, then to France, to the church where her grandparents were married.

Unfortunately, such quests are rarely solitary adventures. The Vatican is aware of her grandfather’s—and now her—quest and while she has the blessing and backing of the pope, not everyone in the papacy is on her side. A certain cardinal with more earthly aims will do whatever it takes to possess the scroll and its secrets. His hired gun is following Anna and Father Vin from Venezuela to France to the church.

At the church, Anna and Father Vin follow her grandfather’s clues and discover the hidden location of the scroll, along with Thomas’s notes regarding his work in deciphering the riddle. But leaving the church with the treasure is not easy, because Jason Lang, an American Baptist missionary, stands in their way. So does the cardinal’s hired gun.

When the smoke clears, Father Vin is dead, the hired gun is wounded and Jason has become Anna’s new guardian. Together, they flee France to a London safe house. Together they must solve the mystery of the scroll before the key to the temple falls into the hands of evil.

I enjoyed this story because it concerns an event in the Bible, specifically in the book of Revelation that most people probably just skip right over and keep reading (kind of like the Prayer of Jabez). I like stories that delve into those little-realized mysteries and give them the exploration that they deserve.

I feel that the authors could have gone a bit deeper into the characters and into Anna’s slowly growing faith. Their motivations are genuine and not exaggerated as some over-done stories play out, but I came away feeling as if I wanted more. I never felt as if Anna fully grasped the importance of the mission she’s been given, although she never wavers in her determination to see it through. Jason’s motivations are clear, as are the supporting characters, but Anna is the protagonist of this tale. Her motivations and development of her faith need to be clearest, and to me, that goal wasn’t quite achieved.

This is a very good story and I would recommend it to Christian book study groups (there are even helpful discussion questions at the end).

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.

This book is now available for purchase through popular online retailers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million and Borders) as well as Christian Book.com, Parable.com, Family Christian.com and Lifeway.com

For more information, check out the book’s web site, Unlock the Scroll

The Third Circle

2011-09-01T23:23:00.000-04:00

The Third Circle by Amanda Quick

Leona Hewitt, a gifted crystal worker, isn't the only one sneaking into Lord Delbridge's private museum to recover a relic. Thaddeus Ware, a mesmerist with psychic gifts, is on a similar mission. Neither one of them has any idea that this relic—a rare ancient crystal—will lead them in a deadly chase where danger and desire await.

--The Third Circle (An Arcane Society Novel, Book 4)
by Amanda Quick
Copyright © by Jayne Ann Krentz
Published by Putnam Adult, 2008 (Hardback) and Jove Books 2009 (paperback)

My Review

Leona Hewitt has been hunting for the Aurora Stone ever since it was stolen from her family when she was sixteen years old. Now that she’s finally found it, she’s found she has a rival for possession of the stone, one Thaddeus Ware. They manage to steal it from the man who stole it (who stole it from yet another thief), but Thaddeus is unfortunately poisoned in the endeavor. Only Leona, wielding the power to use the Aurora Stone to its full potential, is able to cure him. Leona, with the aid of her friend Adam Harrow, leaves Thaddeus in the care of an innkeeper and disappears into the night.

Thaddeus, however, is not about to be denied the woman who saved his life. He tracks her down and convinces her that the man they stole the Aurora Stone from can find her just as easily. His words prove to be true when she finds the Aurora Stone is not where she hid it in her home.

Reluctantly accepting his offer of protection, Leona and her dog, Fog, move in with Thaddeus and his aunt, Victoria Melton. Together, they plot to find out who took the stone and get it back.

Meanwhile, Thaddeus is conducting an investigation on the behest of the Arcane Society into a series of murders attributed to a man the press calls the Midnight Monster. The Aurora Stone, the Monster and a mysterious cabal called The Third Circle are connected and Thaddeus and Leona must tread carefully to expose the members of The Third Circle before they end up like the victims of the Midnight Monster.

I found the pacing in parts of this story to be long, hard and tedious. Part of that, I suppose, is due to the verbiage Amanda Quick employs to give the story the proper Victorian-era atmosphere that, if one were to be honest, it so rightly deserves as the style of speaking in that time was quite formal.

Ahem…

That being said, I did enjoy this story as it gave the background into two more Arcane Society entities, Jones and Jones Investigations and ArcaneMatch.com (though I’m sure it had a different name before the internet era).

Thaddeus and Leona’s search for the Aurora Stone took some predictable turns and the romantic entanglement between them was a given (it is a romance, after all) but it was an enjoyable read.

I’ve read the next two novels in the Arcane Society series, Running Hot and Perfect Poison but will have to re-read them in order to give a review. They may wait, however, as I have several other new books to read and would like to get to them before doing any re-reads.

I give this story THREE STARS.

Calling Mr. King

2011-09-01T22:54:00.002-04:00

Calling Mr. King by Ronald de Feo

Long considered cool, distant, and absolutely reliable, an American-born hit man, working throughout Europe, grows increasingly distracted and begins to develop an unexpected passion for architecture and art while engaged in his deadly profession. Although he welcomes this energizing break from his routine, he comes to realize that it is an unwise trajectory for a man in his business, particularly when he is sent on the most difficult job of his career.

Set in London, Paris, New York, and Barcelona, Calling Mr. King is at once a colorful suspense tale, laced with dark humor, and a psychological self-portrait of a character who is attempting, against the odds, to become someone else.

--Calling Mr. King
by Ronald de Feo
Copyright © August 30, 2011 by Ronald de Feo
Published by Other Press, New York

My Review
“Mr. King,” as he is called, is an assassin, one of the best in his field. He has a job in Paris, but is having a hard time finishing it. He’s uncharacteristically distracted, following his target around the city for days, wondering exactly what the target is doing. He’s had several opportunities to finish the job, but keeps delaying until finally, after a call from his superiors, gets the job done and returns to his base in London.

While he’s waiting for another assignment, he begins to explore his adopted home city. He becomes fascinated by the architecture, specifically Georgian, and begins to research it. Perhaps some day he’ll own a Georgian home. But in the midst of his exploration, he’s given another assignment in Derbyshire. He’s reluctant—he’s really getting into his research—but does as they order. Unfortunately, again, he’s distracted. He completes the job, but is forced to take out a witness. His superiors are not pleased with this and decide to send him to New York City for a while until things calm down.

“Sir Peter Chilton,” as he’s now calling himself, finds himself on vacation in New York City and has no idea what to do with himself. He begins to explore the city, much as he did London, and continues his research into Georgian architecture. He likes his new identity as “Sir Peter Chilton,” gentleman, researcher, explorer, art lover, but when called, he obediently flies to Barcelona. There he waits and, true to form, begins exploring and researching Spanish architecture and the city of Barcelona itself. But when it comes time to finally do the job he’s been sent to do, can he bring himself to complete his mission?

The story started off interesting, a dedicated “best in his field” assassin being given an assignment to take a man out. By the end of the story, he’s fighting off the assassins who were sent to take him out.

Everything written between these two events was a waste of words.

There are long, long, long narrative passages with very little action, just details about the narrator’s wanderings around Paris, London, New York City and Barcelona that, quite frankly, were boring. While he’s wandering around these cities, he begins to rethink his life, and about what he could make of himself if given the opportunity, but these reflections are buried so deep within the narrative/travelogue that they’re hard to find.

When he was sent to New York to lay low after the assignment turned bad, I expected him to be on alert for a possible hit on himself—an assassin that’s losing his touch becomes a liability to his employers and those employers don’t have very nice retirement packages—but no one comes after him. There is one moment where he spies a suspicious black van, but it amounts to nothing. He meets a woman, but aside from a phone call late in the story, that potential relationship goes nowhere and serves no purpose.

When the narrator (which by now, if you haven’t guessed, goes unnamed until the very end of the story) is sent to Barcelona to do a job there, he’s not happy because he wants to go back to London, but obediently goes to Spain. When he fails to do the job there, his employer sends assassins after him. This is the point where the story finally hints that it may be getting to some action, but aside from taking out the first couple assassins, nothing really happens and the story is over.

Given the main character's profession, I was expecting more of a plot/action oriented novel. I was very hard-pressed to find a plot and there was very little action. If you're looking for plot, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a travelogue and deep introspection, this is your book.

At the very end, there’s a nod back to the man the narrator was hunting in Paris, which I found to be an interesting little move on the author’s part, but I found very little else in this story interesting.

I give this story ONE STAR.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.

Writing the Paranormal Novel

2011-08-29T00:04:00.000-04:00

Writing the Paranormal Novel: Techniques and Exercises for Weaving Supernatural Elements into Your Story by Steven Harper

Paranormal novels (those with ghosts, telepaths, vampires, werewolves, fairies, witches and more) for adult and young-adult readers continue to top bestseller lists, but, until now, no resource exists to help writers craft these stories. This book shows how to successfully introduce supernatural and paranormal elements into your stories, create engaging and relatable characters and craft plots where even the most unusual twists are not only possible, they are believable.

--Writing the Paranormal Novel
by Steven Harper
Copyright ©2011 by Steven Harper Piziks
Published by Writer’s Digest Books

My Review

I enjoy writing and I have more books on how to write than I care to acknowledge. I’ve made it a personal goal this year to start weeding through them and getting rid of those give me no great insight into the craft. (Don’t know if I’ll finish that task this year, but at least I’m starting, right?)

This book will stay on my bookshelf forever.

Not only does it do a great job of explaining how supernatural elements should be woven into a story (vampires, werewolves, magical objects and mystical gateways), it lays out the essential elements of a story, ANY story (plot, theme, voice, language), whether supernatural in nature or not. It contains a trove of useful information, from gathering the elements of your story, to creating characters and the crafting of the story. It even goes into what happens after you’ve finished creating your story (the dreaded query letter, submitting to agents and publishers and how to handle what comes next).

And it’s written with humor. Rather than being a dry, boring textbook-type read, Harper has fun with us, keeping the reader/aspiring writer interested and wanting to keep turning the pages to learn more.

For example, when discussing the “Gary Stu” character (the male counterpart to “Mary Sue”), he writes:

Like Mary, Gary is possessed of breathtaking looks (don’t forget the exotic eye color), has more skills than James Bond, and has a body made for pouring melted chocolate over.

Mmmm, melted chocolate…

Oh…ahem…back to the review.

If you have zero interest in writing paranormal stories, I would not recommend this book. Its main focus is on writing for the paranormal audience and the constant reference to those elements may eventually bore the non-paranormal reader. However, if that is your interest, whether you only want to write paranormal novels, or if your interests lie in both para- and non-paranormal, then give this book a read. You’ll enjoy it and you’ll learn a lot about the craft of writing.

I give this book FIVE STARS.

X Plagues

2011-08-28T21:55:00.000-04:00

X Plagues by Mary Nealy

A crazed killer invades the streets of Chicago, patterning his murders after the Old Testament’s ten plagues. Detective Keren Collins, gifted with the ability to discern good and evil spirits, is on the case, as is ex-cop, now mission pastor Paul Morris. Can they put their differences aside long enough to catch the maniacal murderer?

--X Plauges
by Mary Nealy
Copyright ©October 2011 by Mary Nealy
Published by Barbour Books

My Review

I finished this story a couple weeks ago but just realized I never wrote the review.

Chicago Detective Keren Collins is watching an old brownstone on the city’s South Side, keeping an eye out for Juanita Lopez, a young woman who’s gone missing. A couple of gang members are hanging out on the stairs, keeping her from going inside to look for Juanita. When a man comes running up the sidewalk and gets hauled inside by a couple of the thugs, she wants to help him, but isn’t about to take on a whole gang by herself.

Gifted with the ability to sense good and evil spirits, she can’t help but feel the evil in the air around her. Is it because the man might be meeting with an evil fate inside the brownstone or is it due to something else?

When the building suddenly explodes, she seems to have her answer. She springs into action, hauling out as many survivors as she can. The mysterious runner appears through the smoke, helping several gang members escape the inferno. They’re separated by another explosion, but later, Keren is stunned to find out the mysterious Samaritan is Paul Morris.

Five years ago, Detective Paul Morris almost destroyed her career. Now he’s Pastor Paul Morris of the Lighthouse Mission. As much as Keren doesn’t want his help, Paul is at the heart of the case and without him, and she and her partner, Mick O’Shea, will never find out whose recreating the ten plagues of Egypt in Chicago.

The story starts quickly with strong action and keeps moving straight to the end. Even the calmer, emotional scenes keep the story moving, something that’s not always easy to do. It’s an exciting read, well constructed with strong Christian themes, but isn’t preachy at all. Keren grew up with a gift to discern spirits, both good and evil, and always believed it was a gift given to her by God. Paul found Christ later in life and serves Him by giving to the homeless in his community. Mick is also a believer, but is quieter about his faith. It’s there, but it’s not in your face, so in my opinion, those with faith or without will enjoy this story.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.

Sizzle and Burn

2011-08-26T12:29:00.000-04:00

Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz

When Raine Tallentyre made the mistake of revealing her paranormal abilities, her most recent romantic relationship came to a hasty end. Her Aunt Vella, a gifted but troubled soul, had told her years ago to keep her talents a secret. And now that poor Aunt Vella-her last blood relative-has died, Raine has resigned herself to a lonely life.

But when she journeys to Shelbyville, Washington, to clear out Aunt Vella's house, Raine's highly developed sensitivity leads her to a horrifying discovery: a young woman bound and terrified in a basement storage locker. The victim has survived, but the culprit is still on the loose. Without warning, a new man enters Raine's life-investigator Zack Jones. Surprisingly, Zack isn't repelled by her powers: in fact, he has them himself. While Raine hears voices, Zack sees visions and within hours of their meeting, Raine experiences an intense, thrilling intimacy-mental, emotional, and physical-she never dared to expect.

There's one complication, however: Zack Jones is working for the Arcane Society. This secret organization, dedicated to the study of paranormal phenomena, shattered Raine's family with an act of betrayal long ago, and she's not about to trust them now. But as a killer makes her his target, and a cabal of psychic criminals known as Nightshade operates in the shadows surrounding them, Raine and Zack must rely not only on their powerful abilities but on each other . . .

--Sizzle and Burn (The Arcane Society, Book 3)
by Jayne Ann Krentz
Copyright ©January 2008 by Jayne Ann Krentz
Published by Putnam Books

My Review

Raine has good reason to mistrust the members of the Arcane Society. They ousted her father for his research into the Founder’s Formula and a member of Jones & Jones—an investigative tool of the Society—torched her father’s lab. So when she meets Zachary Jones of Jones & Jones, she is naturally suspicious of him and his motives.

Zack is hunting Nightshade, a secret cabal whose purpose is opposite that of the Arcane Society. He needs Raine’s help because he believes her father’s research holds the key to breaking the back of the cabal. Yes, the lab was destroyed, but he believes it possible something survived that could help him in his mission.

Raine has problems of her own. She’s been targeted by a serial killer and the last thing she needs is a Jones in her life, especially someone related to Wilder Jones, the man who betrayed her family. But there’s an attraction between them, one too strong for them to deny.

They can help each other, and along the way, find out just how far this fiery attraction can take them.

This story is a continuation of Jayne Ann Krentz’s Arcane Society series. It can be read alone because it does go into detail about the history of the Arcane Society, but it helps to have read the previous books in the series (Second Sight and White Lies).

The writing is smooth and easy to read, though there are some bits of dialog that seemed odd and unnatural, almost as if they were inspired by a bad television drama. Still, the chemistry between the main characters is good and the various story lines surrounding them engage the reader’s imagination. The villain of the story, codenamed “January” does a good job of hiding in her anonymity. The fact that she’s a she is the only clue the reader has until she makes herself known.

Some of the actions taken by the characters are almost comical in nature, like the ideas were lifted (again) from a bad television drama, but they’re handled with a lightness and humor that make them fun to read.

A great addition to the series with more to come.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

White Lies

2011-08-22T23:41:00.001-04:00

White Lies by Jayne Ann Krentz

As a level 10 para-sensitive, Clare Lancaster can tell for certain when someone is telling the truth. So Clare knows that her half-sister, Elizabeth Glazebrook, isn't lying when she says her husband, Brad McAllister, is trying to kill her. But Brad is murdered instead, and as the first person to find his body, Clare becomes the Stone Canyon Police Department's favorite suspect. With no evidence to tie her to the crime, Clare is allowed to return to her old life in San Francisco. But six months later, her father, Archer, summons her back to Phoenix. Her unique gift tells her not only that there is more to her father's new business "consultant" Jake Salter than he would like her to believe but also that she is in grave danger.

--White Lies (The Arcane Society, Book 2)
by Jayne Ann Krentz
Copyright © 2008 by Jayne Ann Krentz
Published by The Putnam Group

My Review

Jayne Ann Krentz started the Arcane Society series with Second Sight, set in 1800’s London, and written under the pen name Amanda Quick. Book two in the series takes place in contemporary times in the town of Stone Canyon, Arizona.

Clare Lancaster is the illegitimate daughter of Archer Glazebrook, a wealthy real estate developer, the product of a one-night stand. Archer never knew about Clare, but Clare knew about Archer and chose not to interfere with his family. However, when she fears for the life of her half-sister, Elizabeth, she gets involved and Elizabeth’s husband winds up dead.

Six months later, Archer summons Clare back to Stone Canyon, unintentionally opening up a can of worms. Although Clare was cleared of suspicion in Brad’s death, there are many in town who believe she is guilty. Her presence in town is making a lot of people—people with secrets to keep—very nervous.

Jake Salter, Archer’s new business consultant, meets Clare and his assignment (as a Jones & Jones undercover operative) just got more interesting. He’s investigating the possibility that there’s a new organization counter to the Arcane Society, of which he, Clare and the Glazebrooks are all members. Very quickly, as several attempts are made on Clare’s life, it becomes obvious that these attempts, the murder of Elizabeth’s husband, and the formation of the new cabal are all tied together somehow. And if Jake’s going to get to the bottom of things, he’ll need to keep Clare safe. To do that, he’ll need to keep her close…very close, a position neither of them seem to have a problem with.

As the investigation progresses, the can of worms becomes a snake pit, and each viper they pull out is more dangerous than the one before. Can they survive long enough to uncover the whole truth or will they be the next victims of the cabal’s deadly conspiracy?

Growing up with a psychic ability that helps her discern lies from truth, Clare has a hard time trusting people because people lie all the time. That’s understandable, but sometimes, I just wanted to give her a shake and tell her it’s okay to trust some people even if you think they’re lying to you. It’s the degree of the lie that’s important, not the fact of the lie.

There was a lot of “info dumping” in this story, where the telling of the story was interrupted for narrative on the history of the Arcane Society and where each character fit in the Society. While important to give the reader a better understanding of the Society and its purpose, it did get boring and a little frustrating to have the narrative stopped so many times. I think the previous book in this series (Second Sight) did a much better job handling the history of the Arcane Society than this second book.

I liked the banter between Jake and Clare. They’re both very strong-willed people determined to get their own way, but at the same time, they work well together and they get results. Elizabeth strikes me as a bit of a wimp, Archer is a bit of a jerk and Myra (Archer’s wife) is a real bitch to Clare until the mystery is finally wrapped up (I understand Myra’s resentment of Clare, but really, you don’t blame the product of the affair, you blame the ones involved in the affair…and Myra already made Archer pay for his indiscretion, so get over it, woman!). These personality traits bothered me a little, but as they’re all secondary characters, I tried not to let them get to me.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and I’m looking forward to the next in the series, Sizzle and Burn.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

Second Son

2011-08-16T14:01:00.000-04:00

Second Son by Lee Child

Okinawa, 1974. Even at thirteen, Jack Reacher knows how to outwit and overpower anyone who stands in his way. And as the new kid in town, that’s pretty much everyone. His family has come to the Pacific with his father, who’s preparing for a top-secret Marine Corps operation. After receiving a rude welcome from the local military brats, Reacher and his older brother, Joe, intend to teach them a lesson they won’t forget. But it’s soon clear that there’s more at stake than pride. When his family’s future appears to come crumbling down, it’s the youngest Reacher who rises to the occasion with all the decisive cunning and bravura that will one day be his deadly trademark.

--Second Son
by Lee Child
Copyright ©August 15, 2011 by Lee Child
Published by Delacorte Press

My Review

So now we know the roots of Jack Reacher’s genius. He learned early how to think, how to observe, how to plan and how to act. He learned how to file away the smallest details and how to use that information later to his advantage.

Got a problem? Turn Jack Reacher loose and it’ll be taken care of. You may not like his methods, but they get results and that’s what matters, right?

I give this story FIVE STARS.

Second Son is available only as an e-book through Amazon.com (see link below), Barnes & Noble.com, iTunes.com and Sony.com.

Second Son also includes an excerpt from Lee Child’s forthcoming novel, The Affair, due out September 27, 2011.

Although I told myself not to, I started to read this Chapter 1 excerpt. I managed to stop myself at the end of the first scene. I don't want to get myself hooked on to this new story because one chapter isn't enough and I don't know if I can wait another six weeks to find out why Reacher would go into the Pentagon, anticipating an arrest, wearing a Class A uniform and five days of beard growth on his face. Come on! If you've got the time to prepare and put on Class As, you've got time to shave, so why didn't he shave? This is going to drive me crazy! Why did I start reading it??? Aaugh!!!

Second Sight

2011-08-16T08:11:00.001-04:00

Second Sight (The Arcane Society, Book 1) by Amanda Quick

Financially straitened and on the path to spinsterhood, Venetia Milton thought her stay at the remote, ramshackle Arcane House would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engineer her own ravishment. She was there to photograph the artifacts collected by a highly secretive organization, founded two centuries earlier by an alchemist. And the alchemist's descendant-her employer, Gabriel Jones-has the eyes of a sorcerer.

But despite Venetia's intent to seduce Mr. Jones and move on, she is shattered upon her return home to read in the press of his violent demise. Using the sizable fee Mr. Jones paid her, Venetia establishes a new life, opening a gallery in London. Of course, posing as a respectable widow makes it easier to do business, so-in a private tribute to her lost, only lover-she assumes the identity of "Mrs. Jones."

Her romantic whim, however, will cause unexpected trouble. For one thing, Mr. Jones is about to stride, living and breathing, back into Venetia's life. And the two share more than a passionate memory-indeed, they are bonded by a highly unusual sort of vision, one that goes far beyond Venetia's abilities as a photographer. They also share a terrible threat-for someone has stolen a centuries-old notebook from Arcane House that contains a formula believed to enhance psychic powers of the kind Gabriel and Venetia possess. And the thief wants to know more-even if he must kill the keeper of the Arcane Society's treasures, or the photographer who catalogued them, to obtain such knowledge.

--Second Sight (The Arcane Society, Book 1)
by Amanda Quick
Copyright © 2006 by Jayne Ann Krentz
Published by The Putnam Group

My Review

Though I try, sometimes I simply cannot improve on the synopsis provided by the publisher. The above is taken from Amazon.com’s “Product Description” of the book and it seems quite lengthy for a “back-of-the-book” blurb, but sometimes Amazon is all I can draw from, so there you go.

Venetia Milton is not your typical Victorian-era heroine. She’s strong-minded, willful and determined to do things her way. She has to in order to support her family, which consists of herself, her younger brother and sister and her aunt.

Gabriel Jones is also not your typical Victorian-era hero. He’s open-minded about women establishing businesses for themselves and encourages Venetia in her work, except, of course, when her life is potentially in danger, he puts his foot down, and she very neatly trods over it. Which, of course, both infuriates him and makes him admire her even more. Truly a modern thinker.

Amanda Quick captures the era very nicely, and her historical knowledge of Victorian-era photography is excellent. Throw in the supernatural elements that she is quite adept at weaving into her stories and you have a well-constructed, entertaining story that’s a good kick-off to the Arcane Society series.

For those who don’t already know, Jayne Ann Krentz writes under two pseudonyms, Amanda Quick for historicals, Jayne Castle for futuristics and uses her own name for contemporaries. The Arcane Society series crosses all three of these genres, though each book can be read on its own. I’ll be reading/re-reading the series but not back-to-back, as I have so many books to read. I foresee the consumption of this series taking me well into next year…but I’m no psychic, so we’ll see!

I give the story THREE stars.

Seers

2011-08-03T12:09:00.002-04:00

Seers by Heather Frost

David Baldacci

For Kate Bennet, surviving the car wreck that killed her parents means big changes and even bigger problems. As she begins to see auras and invisible people, Kate must learn to trust Patrick O'Donnell, a handsome Guardian, or risk her life being overrun with Demons. She soon realizes that both she and her heart are in big-time trouble.

--Seers
by Heather Frost
Copyright ©October 2011 by Heather Frost
Published by Bonneville Books, an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc.

My Review

Kate Bennet’s life changed the summer before her senior year in high school. Her parents were killed in a car accident and her grandparents move in to help raise her and her two younger siblings. The accident also left Kate with an unusual gift: she can see auras. She adapts easily to this new gift, but tells no one about it except her best friend Lee.

Things change, however, on the first day of school when she meets the new guy, Patrick O’Donnell. He intrigues her, but not just because he’s handsome and has a cute Irish accent. He has a silver aura where everyone else has colors. Plus, he has every single class with her. Plus he seems to turn up everywhere she goes. What’s going on with this guy?

Eventually, Patrick tells her the truth. He’s a Guardian, and because she can see auras, he needs her help to find Demons. At first, she’s skeptical, but when she spies her first black-auraed Demon, she immediately runs to Patrick for help.

As Kate, Patrick and his partner, Toni, work to piece together just who this demon is, they need to move fast, because this demon won’t stop until he gets what he wants. And he wants Kate.

This is not my usual genre (young adult), but as I’m interested in reading new authors to find those gems I never knew existed, I decided to take a chance with both a new author and a different genre.

The pacing of the story is slow but it does pick up about half-way through and once it does, it really takes off. It’s nice to read a story that touches on some of the other aspects of the paranormal and not just the usual vampires and werewolves. Kate’s aura-seeing ability quickly turns from an unusual quirk to something that can take her on a grand adventure and save her life at the same time. Patrick is wonderful as her Guardian and potential love interest and Toni…well, I couldn’t quite get a handle on Toni, but I guess that was kind of the point. He’s a loose cannon, but he’s loyal and will stay with you to the end.

And finding out Grandpa was…well, he was certainly hiding his light under a bushel, but I’m so glad he came out as Kate’s ally (in more than one way). He definitely added the right seasoning to this story. And Jack? I’d love to see more of him!

Great characters, good plot, terrific action sequences and a touch of romance. All in all, I found Seers to be a fun, light (light for me, that is) read by an author whom I definitely want to see more of in the future. The story is very well written for such a young author and I wish her all the best and lots more success in her future. Good job, Heather, and keep writing!

I give this story FOUR STARS.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.

61 Hours

2011-08-02T12:38:00.001-04:00

61 Hours by Lee Child

A bus crashes in a savage snowstorm and lands Jack Reacher in the middle of a deadly confrontation. In nearby Bolton, South Dakota, one brave woman is standing up for justice in a small town threatened by sinister forces. If she’s going to live long enough to testify, she’ll need help. Because a killer is coming to Bolton, a coldly proficient assassin who never misses.

Reacher’s original plan was to keep on moving. But the next 61 hours will change everything. The secrets are deadlier and his enemies are stronger than he could have guessed—but so is the woman he’ll risk his life to save.

--61 Hours
by Lee Child
Copyright ©2009 by Lee Child
Published by Jove Books

My Review

61 Hours is the 14th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.

Jack Reacher is in South Dakota on a tour bus heading toward Mount Rushmore. Seeing the monument isn’t his plan, he just needs to head toward it to catch the main highway heading south. After all, South Dakota in winter is not the place for a vagabond such as himself. But when the bus crashes in the middle of a blizzard, he springs into action and helps get the passengers settled in the nearby town of Bolton.

While there, he becomes curious about the behavior of the police department’s top two men, Chief Holland and his second-in-command, Deputy Chief Peterson. They’re expecting something bad, more than just another blizzard and Reacher being Reacher, he gets involved. He really would rather just move on, but since he’s stuck in Bolton until the roads clear, he might as well give the town the benefits of his experience.

One of Bolton’s main problems is the large group of bikers camping out at an abandoned Army facility just outside of town. The police believe the bikers have a meth lab in their camp, but so far, have no authority to search. When one of the bikers is busted for dealing—with a highly regarded local woman as witness—their ability to drive out the bikers is greatly improved. The witness, Janet Salter, just needs to survive through to trial. That tells Reacher what Holland and Peterson are expecting…a killer with his sights on the witness.

Reacher agrees to help guard Mrs. Salter. He also offers to help Holland and Peterson sort through they mystery of the abandoned Army facility so they can get a grip on what exactly the bikers are doing out there. Along the way, they discover a connection to a powerful drug lord from Mexico called Plato. Plato is a man who gets what he wants and there are two things he wants: he wants what the bikers are guarding, and he wants Janet Salter dead. Plato will do whatever it takes to get what he wants.

And there’s only one man who can stop Plato from getting what he wants.

The author, Lee Child, started this story with the idea that the telling of it would cover a 61 hour period, and so at appropriate intervals, he inserts a countdown, letting the reader know just how many hours are left. You’d expect a lot to happen in those 61 hours, but much of it passes pretty calmly with only a few spikes of action. It’s actually a little bit boring, but because you know the clock is ticking, the tension inside you increases until you’ve got only the last six hours to go and that’s when everything happens.

Reacher isn’t perfect. He makes mistakes in judgment and his assumptions, while based on experience, don’t always prove to be right. But just because he makes mistakes, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t learn from them. He adjusts as necessary so he can achieve the desired outcome. I like that he isn’t always right, that he makes mistakes and has to rethink his strategies. It makes him human, not perfect, and I think that adds to his appeal as a literary hero.

As to the exciting cliff-hanger ending, I had the comfort of knowing there was a 15th Jack Reacher novel, so I know he survived the ending of this adventure…but in what shape I won’t know until I start Worth Dying For.

I give this story FOUR and a HALF STARS.

Fairhaven

2011-07-30T22:48:00.001-04:00

Fairhaven by Ken Coffman

A serial killer runs around Skagit County in Washington State. Former police officer Jake Mosby is retired...and wants to lead a quiet, simple life. But, he's stuck with an ornery teen-ager and a new girlfriend and he needs to man up for one last mission.

--Fairhaven
by Ken Coffman
Copyright ©October 4, 2011 by Ken Coffman
Published by Stairway Press

My Review

Jake Mosby, ex-police officer, is 66 years old and done with life. But life isn’t done with him. Through the deaths of his father and step-mother, he inherits a used book store and a car and through his daughter, guardianship of his grandson. Not at all what he’s looking for, but he adjusts and figures he’ll keep his life going for a while longer.

Then Eleanor Bradley, a lady from the Peaceful Meadows Nursing Home, comes to him with a problem. She believes an employee at the home, Charlie Fairhaven, is killing residents. Can Jake put a stop to Charlie?

Jake agrees to look into the situation and in the process, discovers something disturbing about his own father’s death. Now Jake won’t stop digging until Charlie Fairhaven is stopped, one way or the other.

This story has two great characters, Jake Mosby and Charlie Fairhaven. Jake is a love-him-or-hate-him type of character and at times I loved him and at times I hated him. For a sweet old curmudgeon, he can be a real bastard when he wants to be. But he’s good at what he does and gets the job done, even if he doesn’t want to be doing it.

Charlie Fairhaven…now there’s an interesting character. His killing roots run deep, and at first they’re pretty textbook, but then they escalate quickly and even he knows that there’s only one way to stop him.

As for the story itself, the plot is a good one, but the telling of the story falls short. Some of the situations seem perfectly plausible while others are implausible…there’s a sub-plot about an internal investigation that has nothing to do with the main plot, so why is it in the story at all? And when Charlie’s life starts to go out of control, it goes in a direction that makes no sense at all. It almost seems like it goes in “this” direction for the sole purpose of introducing us to “these” people who help bring about the end of the drama and there was no other way to bring about that end except through “these” people who we wouldn’t have met if Charlie hadn’t gone in “this” direction. If that didn’t make sense to you, then neither would that particular twist in the story.

In summary, Fairhaven feels like the third or fourth draft of a novel and needs just one more rewrite and a new title to get everything just right. It’s almost a very good story.

I give this story TWO STARS.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley. This story is due to be released October 4, 2011 by Stairway Press and can be purchased through their website.

Simple Genius

2011-07-20T12:04:00.001-04:00

Simple Genius by David Baldacci

In a world of secrets, human genius is power.

And sometimes it is simply deadly...

A three-hour drive from Washington, D.C., two clandestine institutions face each other across a heavily guarded river. One is the world's most unusual laboratory, whose goals and funding are a mystery. The other is an elite CIA training camp shrouded in secrecy. Now a man and a woman are about to run a gauntlet between these two puzzle factories, straight into a furious struggle to exploit a potentially world-shattering discovery--and keep some other secrets underwraps forever...

Former secret service agents turned private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have seen their lives splinter around them. Michelle lies unconscious in a hospital bed after a night of suicidal violence. And Sean is forced to take on a thankless investigation into the murder of a scientist just inside the CIA's razor-wire fence near Williamsburg, Virginia.

Soon he is uncovering layer after layer of disinformation that shields a stunning world filled with elite mathematics, physicists, war heroes, spies, and deadly field agents. Amid more murder, a seemingly autistic girl's extraordinary genius, and a powerful breakthrough in the realm of classified codes, Sean soon learns enough to put his life at risk. Now more than ever, he needs Michelle--at her best--to help stop a conspiracy of traitors operating in the shadow of the White House itself.

From Michelle's courageous struggle to defeat her long-buried personal demons to a
centuries-old secret that surfaces in the heat of action, SIMPLE GENIUS pulses with stunning, high-intensity suspense.

--Simple Genius by David Baldacci, Copyright ©2007 by David Baldacci, published by Warner Books

My Review

At the start of this book, our old friends, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have relocated to Northern Virginia, figuring that location would have more opportunities for their services than Wrightsburg. The market may be large, but so is the competition, and Michelle is not faring well. She sinks into a depression that hits its nadir when she instigates a bar brawl with someone who very nearly kills her. Michelle needs help, and Sean knows the perfect psychiatrist for the job, Dr. Horatio Barnes. After talking to Michelle, Horatio recommends she have in-patient treatment at a clinic he recommends. That kind of therapy doesn’t come free, however, and Sean must find the money to pay for her treatment. Once again, Sean knows just where to turn.

Joan Dillinger (of Split Second and Hour Game) agrees to hire him for a job. A man named Monk Turing was found dead under suspicious circumstances and his bosses want to know exactly what happened to him. Sean takes the assignment and heads to southern Virginia, to a place called Babbage Town, a kind of “think tank” for the super intelligent.

It doesn’t take Sean long to start digging and in doing so, get himself in trouble on more than one front. Babbage Town is located across the York River from Camp Peary, a super-secret CIA facility. It’s also where Monk Turing’s body was found. What was Turing doing on restricted CIA grounds? Sean wants to look around Camp Peary, but can’t set foot on the grounds without getting arrested. Turing’s daughter, Vigenére, is super intelligent in her own right and obviously knows more than she’s letting on, but like all intelligent children, has a hard time communicating simply. Everywhere Sean turns, he runs into one roadblock after another and the body count is starting to rise.

Michelle, meanwhile, is getting into plenty of trouble on her own. Horatio is convinced something in her childhood changed her personality at age six and despite her resistance, he’s going to help her uncover the memories. Before he can do so, Michelle manages to uncover a drug ring operating at the mental health facility and has the parties arrested. Thinking herself cured, she checks herself out of the facility and joins Sean in Babbage Town.

Sean is glad to have Michelle by his side again, but is still worried about her. He asks Horatio to join them, in part to help Viggie Turing, and in part to keep an eye on Michelle. As the two of them dig, they uncover more mysteries and conspiracies surrounding Babbage Town and Camp Peary, the cost of which may be too high for anyone to pay.

I have to admit, this story was a struggle to read at the beginning and didn’t get much better as it went on. The interweaving plot lines make for a very tidy mesh, but the design is complicated and at times difficult to decipher.

I didn’t care for the way this story started—Michelle going into a seedy bar with a death wish—because it touches into the darkness of a broken mind and broken mind is somewhere I really don’t like to go.

(And to think, in high school, I wanted to go into psychiatry…)

But as it turns out, it was Michelle and her problems that kept me going through this story to its conclusion. Otherwise, I might not have bothered to finish it.

A real “kitchen sink” mystery, Baldacci throws everything into this story, including the kitchen sink. Perhaps if he had simplified the plot, it would have made for an easier read. There is such a thing as being too detailed, too complicated and too crazy and this story fit that mold. However, it all played out in such a plausible, realistic manner that anything simpler might have been cheating.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

My enjoyment of the story says to give it three stars, but the intricate design of the plot and the way it played out deserves four stars, so that’s what I went with.

Judging by the reader reviews posted on Amazon.com, if you really love David Baldacci and the Sean King/Michelle Maxwell series, you’ll enjoy this book. If you’re so-so on it or haven’t read the previous books in the series, you might not like it. In fact, I highly recommend reading the previous two books before touching this one.

The Keeper of Lost Causes

2011-07-14T14:20:00.001-04:00

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Carl Mørck used to be a good homicide detective—one of Copenhagen's best. Then a bullet almost took his life. Two of his colleagues weren't so lucky, and Carl, who didn't draw his weapon, blames himself.

So a promotion is the last thing Carl expects.

But it all becomes clear when he sees his new office in the basement. Carl's been selected to run Department Q, a new special investigations division that turns out to be a department of one. With a stack of Copenhagen's coldest cases to keep him company, Carl's been put out to pasture. So he's as surprised as anyone when a case actually captures his interest. A missing politician vanished without a trace five years earlier. The world assumes she's dead. His colleagues snicker about the time he's wasting. But Carl may have the last laugh, and redeem himself in the process.

Because she isn't dead . . . yet.

--The Keeper of Lost Causes
by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Translated by Tiina Nunnally
Copyright ©August 23, 2011 by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Published Penguin Group (USA)

My Review

Carl Mørck, criminal investigator for the Copenhagen police is returning to work after surviving an ambush that killed one member of his team and paralyzed the other. He’s a gruff man and not popular with his co-workers, to the extent that no one wants to partner up with him. Desiring to get rid of him, or at least put him somewhere where he won’t have much interaction with anyone else, his bosses make him the new head of “Department Q,” a cold-case squad with emphasis on cases that are of “particular interest to the public welfare.” Carl is not happy with his new position, but settles into the offices of Department Q…located in the basement…with his new assistant, Hafez el-Assad.

Sorting through the stack of cases, Carl’s not much interested in any of them, but he keeps coming back to one. Merete Lynggard, vice-chairperson for the Social Democrats in the Folketing (the Danish Parliament), disappeared five years ago while riding the ferry from Rødby, Denmark to Puttgarden, Germany. It was assumed she either fell or jumped overboard as her body had never been found. She was declared legally dead and her handicapped brother was made a ward of the state. It seems pretty cut-and-dried, and he knew he should move on to a different case, but there’s something about this one that keeps nagging at him.

So he starts digging. Assad, though not trained in police investigation, proves to have valuable insight and asks just the right questions to keep Carl moving forward. Everyone believes Merete is dead. So does Carl. But as he digs into a plot of revenge rooted deeply in a disturb mind, he begins to wonder if Merete is still alive. And if she is, can he find her before the ones responsible for her disappearance extract their final revenge?

You know a story’s got you when you’re about three-fourths of the way through and you find yourself dreaming of possible endings and losing sleep over them. Yeah, I did that.

The story moves back and forth between Carl’s investigation in the present and Merete’s life starting shortly before her abduction in 2002. As Carl’s investigation moves forward, Merete’s life in her prison is fast-forwarded until the two timelines converge.

Carl Mønck is a wonderful character, full of flaws and angst and yet you can’t help but pull for him as he works his way through this mystery and tries to sort out his life. He’s separated from his wife, Vigga, and lives with his step-son and a tenant. He has unresolved emotions regarding the ambush that resulted in the death of one member of his team and the paralyzing of another and his own inability to react the way he feels he should have in the situation. Plus he’s dealing with the political games his department heads are playing and trying to figure out how he can best benefit from their maneuvers. And then there’s Carl’s mysterious assistant, Assad. The man definitely has a past, something Carl attempts to get out of Assad without success. But for a man who’s able to solve a five-year-old cold case, finding out exactly why Assad had to leave Syria for Denmark should be no trouble...but that's a story line for another book (I hope).

This is the American release of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s 2007 best-selling novel, Kvinden i buret (Woman in a Cage). It was released in the UK as Mercy and will be released here in the US as The Keeper of Lost Causes.

(Can someone in the publishing industry please clue me in as to why foreign author’s books are constantly being renamed whenever they’re released to a new market?)

This is the first book in the Department Q series. The second and third, Fasandræberne/The Pheasant Killers, and Flaskepost fra P/Message in a Bottle have been published in Denmark and, hopefully, will be available to the English-speaking market soon. I will definitely be looking for them.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof from NetGalley.

Split Second

2011-07-07T22:54:00.003-04:00

Split Second by David Baldacci

When something distracts Secret Agent Sean King for a split second, it costs him his career and presidential candidate Clyde Ritter, his life. But what stole his attention? And why was Ritter shot? Eight years later Michelle Maxwell is on the fast track through the ranks of the Secret Service when her career is stopped short: Presidential candidate John Bruno is abducted from a funeral home while under her protection. The similarity between the two cases drives Michelle to re-open investigations into the Ritter fiasco and join forces with attractive ex-agent King. The pair is determined to get to the bottom of what happened in those critical moments. Meanwhile, high-ranking members of the legal system and key witnesses from both cases are going missing. King is losing friends, colleagues and clients fast and his ex-lover, Joan Dillinger, is playing curious games - she wants Sean back, but she also owes him for something...

--Split Second by David Baldacci, Copyright ©2003 by David Baldacci

My Review

This is Book 1 in the Sean King and Michelle Maxwell series.

Sean King’s career in the Secret Service came to an end eight years ago when the presidential candidate he was guarding was shot. Now living in Wrightsburg, Virginia with a law practice and lake-side home, he’s comfortable with his new life.

Michelle Maxwell is moving up in the Service when her protectee is kidnapped from a funeral home. Placed on leave, she begins to investigate the case that cost Sean King his career. Their cases were similar, and perhaps by working on his case, she could keep her mind off the disaster that had befallen her.

She gets in touch with King and, despite his unwillingness to participate, they begin to see similarities between their two cases. The more clues they uncover, the deeper they get into the conspiracy surrounding these two events. Could the same person or persons be responsible for both events? And if so, what could their motive be? Who is the ultimate target?

And most important, can King and Maxwell stop them before they fall victim to the mastermind’s plan?

Having already read Hour Game, I was familiar with Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, but it was good to go back and learn how the two former Secret Service agents became former Secret Service Agents and how they became partners in King and Maxwell Investigations.

I read a few other reviewer’s comments about this novel and most of them were disappointed with how the story ended. I admit, I had a hard time buying into the mastermind’s motivation, primarily because I don’t really “get” the need some people have to get revenge for a perceived slight. The mastermind wanted something to go his way—Plan A—and when that didn’t work, he instituted Plan B. When that didn’t work, Plan C. But Plan C wasn’t the end. His need for revenge for the failure of Plans A & B caused him to put together Plan D. At some point, don’t you just say, “Enough is enough, I only have this one life and I’m going to go enjoy it?” But that’s the only reason I didn’t enjoy the ending, a little too unbelievable for my understanding.

I enjoy reading series novels because—if I enjoy the series, then that means I enjoy the characters and if I enjoy the characters, I want to read more about them and watch as they develop over the years. I think I’m going to enjoy these two for a long time to come.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

Collide

2011-07-07T22:04:00.003-04:00

Collide by Megan Hart

A childhood accident left Emmaline vulnerable to disturbing fugue states that last only minutes, but feel like an eternity. The blackouts are unsettling but manageable…until she meets Johnny Dellasandro.

The reclusive painter gained notoriety in the '70s for his debauched lifestyle and raunchy art films. His naked body has achieved cult status, especially in Emm's mind—she's obsessed with the man, who's grown even sexier with age. Today Johnny shuns the spotlight and Emm in particular…until she falls into a fugue on his doorstep.

In that moment she's transported back thirty years, crashing a party at Johnny's place in his wild-man heyday— the night is a blur of flesh and heat that lingers on her skin long after she's woken to the present.

It happens again and again, each time-slip another mind-blowing orgy, and soon Emm can't stop, though every episode leaves her weaker and weaker. She's frightened by what's happening to her, but she's even more terrified of losing this portal to the Johnny she wants so badly. The one who wants her, too, and takes her—every chance he gets.

--Collide by Megan Hart, Copyright ©2011 by Megan Hart, published by Spice/Harlequin Books

My Review

I tried to write a summary of the story (like I always do) but found myself unable to summarize without retelling the entire story. And I couldn’t improve upon the book blurb summary provided above, so I figured, “why try?”

I seriously had a hard time putting this book down. When I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it which, to me, is the hallmark of an excellently written story. This is my second Megan Hart novel and she is quickly becoming a favorite.

The story is sexually explicit (WARNING, WARNING), but I think even if those scenes were tamed down, or even if some of them were removed, it would still be an excellent story. Hart doesn’t rely on sex to carry the plot, it’s merely the seasoning to a superb meal. (I felt the same about another one of her novels, Naked.)

Imagine obsessing about someone because of what they did and how they looked in their past, and at the same time, falling in love with their present self. It’s no wonder Emm was conflicted with her growing feelings for Johnny…she couldn’t separate what she was experiencing with him in the past with what’s growing between them in the present.

Even though there’s a huge generation gap between them, it doesn’t show in the way they talk to each other or in the way they treat each other. Johnny’s young enough at heart to reach Megan’s level and she’s more mature because of her illness to reach Johnny’s level, so it’s a good match.

Too often I read stories where there’s this “instant, magnetic attraction” between the male and female leads, “full of a passion and fire that must be quenched before it burns out of control.” The romance between Johnny and Emm develops slowly and that slow development is very satisfying. I really enjoyed that these two spent time dodging each other before coming together. Love and passion can flare up between two people, but it can also develop slowly and I think it’s more satisfying when it’s slow.

I did wonder about the scientific aspects of the story. How could Emm, in her fugue state, be physically present in the now, and yet at the same time, be physically present in the past? In the beginning she thinks she’s hallucinating, but it becomes evident that it’s not hallucination, that she really is slipping back to the 70’s. So how is she doing it? I admit, I won’t lose any sleep wondering about this—I’ll simply accept it and move on—but it is curious. I also felt that there was more to the character of Ed D’Onofrio that probably didn’t make the final edits. Was Ed attracted to Emm but couldn’t approach her because she was so wrapped up with Johnny? I thought that might be it, but that was never explored. I would also have loved it if Johnny (in the present) brought Emm to meet Candy at his restaurant. That scene as I pictured it happening, had the potential to be hilarious but that was never written. I am glad, though, that Emm got to meet Sandy again at the very end. That loose end was nicely tied off.

There is a strong similarity between this story and another popular novel/movie, The Time Traveler’s Wife and perhaps that story, in part, inspired Collide. Hart skillfully gets around this comparison by freely acknowledging it when Emm finally tells Jen what’s been going on with her in her fugue states.

In short, Collide is a great story that I thoroughly enjoyed and will enjoy again.

This is another of my NetGalley reads.

I give this story FIVE STARS.

Trash Course

2011-07-07T18:58:00.001-04:00

Trash Course by Penny Drake

Terry Faye loves traveling the world while working as a private investigator. But this latest case is a doozy—and it's right here in Ann Arbor.

Two elderly recluses, Howard and Lawrence Peale, have stopped communicating with the outside world, and Terry and her boss have been put on the case. The catch: the Peales are hoarders. A clean sweep isn't going to be easy, even with cute photographer Zack Archer lending a hand.

The more digging Terry does in the Peale mansion, the more dirt she uncovers. And after she discovers two dead bodies, it's going to take a lot more than just elbow grease and a nice guy sidekick to find out what's happened...

--Trash Course by Penny Drake, Copyright ©2010, published by Carina Press

My Review

After busting a child-trafficking ring in Russia with her boss, Mrs. Hawk, Terry Faye is glad to be back home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. When Belinda Harris arrives at their private investigation firm, asking them to look in on her two reclusive uncles, Terry is glad for a lighter change of pace.

When they arrive at Howard and Lawrence Peale’s home, they find a grand old home stuffed to the ceilings with junk. The uncles were hoarders, Belinda explained, and she was unable to find a way inside, but Terry found an unblocked door and they began to explore. Inside, working their way through the maze of junk, Terry and Mrs. Hawk stumble upon two bodies. One is Howard Peale. The other is…not Lawrence Peale.

They also find Zack Archer, a freelance photographer, interested in doing a story on the Peales. Terry, though very attracted to Zack, doesn’t fully trust him, even though Mrs. Hawk and Belinda seem glad to have his assistance as they search the house for any important papers the uncles may have left behind, and maybe something to help identify the unidentified man.

For there is treasure in the Peale house, and there are several interested parties in finding the treasure, not just Brenda and Zack. There’s Belinda’s criminal cousins from Chicago, and a certain Russian whose business took a serious hit lately… and Zack is hiding something, something Terry is determined to find out, before she falls even deeper in love with him.

Terry Faye is not your typical brave, fearless heroine nor is she a typical shrinking violet. She is brave, but she’s had to learn how to be brave. She gets scared, nervous and sometimes feels unsure of herself, but she pushes herself past those points and does what needs to be done. The fact that we get to “hear” her nervousness and how she talks herself through those nerves to do what needs to be done is refreshing and I really enjoyed that part of her personality. These are the traits that make a good hero…they have vulnerabilities yet they stick to the task and see it through. And having cherry cheesecake and an Orlando Bloom movie waiting for you at the end certainly helps.

Zach Archer is also a refreshing character. Early thirties and gorgeous, he’s a freelance photographer who’s interested in a potential story behind the Peale’s hoarding. He’s also interested in Terry, though he doesn’t go about pursing her with the bull-in-the-china-shop style that’s so prevalent in suspense/romance stories these days. Through gentle persuasion and charm, he wiggles his way into Terry’s heart. Though she’s reluctant at first, by the end of the story, she’s happy to have him there. Just in her heart, though. Their romance doesn’t go further than a few kisses, with a hint of more at the very end, and that hint is really all we need.

These two, plus the somewhat aristocratic Mrs. Hawk, Terry’s Russian friend Slava and the eccentric cast of supporting characters, including the junk-filled house and the town of Ann Arbor itself, plus a terrifically twisting plot and plenty of action, with a dash of romance to season, makes this story a delightful, fun read. I’m hoping for another Terry Faye/Hawk Enterprises story soon.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

Available as an e-book through Amazon (see usual link below) or Carina Press (click name to go to their web site).

I've Been Tagged!

2011-07-07T10:18:00.000-04:00

Okay, a step away from the reviews for a moment because I have been tagged by my friend Michelle Massaro on her blog, Michelle's Adventures in Writing. Naturally, I must comply with the rules, so here you go!

Do you think you're hot?

Well, the Shenandoah Valley is finally starting to steam up, so -- oh, wait, do you mean the other kind of hot? Then alas, I'd have to say no...but I'm working on it!

Upload a picture of the wallpaper you are using.

"Little" Richard and his mount, Bunny, from the awesome online cartoon Looking for Group

When was the last time you ate chicken?

Yesterday for lunch. Panera's Chopped Chicken Cobb Salad. I love it and my trainer loves to give me grief about it.

What song or songs have you listened to recently?

Last night, one of my residents (I work in a nursing home) sat outside his room and sang hymns for about an hour, with one or two rock-and-roll classics thrown in. He has a pretty good voice and he takes requests!

Do you have any nicknames? If so what are they?

Jacki is my usual nickname. When I was in the 8th grade, I was friends with two other Jackies, so we were Jackie, Jacquelyn and Jan...I was Jan since those are my initials. After 8th grade I went back to being Jacki.

I know I'm supposed to tag 5 bloggers next, but I don't know if I know five bloggers to tag! Can I come back and fill them in later?

Critical Space

2011-07-04T00:03:00.001-04:00

Critical Space by Greg Rucka

Greg Rucka is one of the most exciting voices in thriller fiction—and bodyguard Atticus Kodiak one of its edgiest, most dangerous heroes. This time Kodiak breaks a cardinal rule when dealing with a client and finds himself in the most dangerous place of all…

Code-named Drama, she is a lightning-fast death machine—a hitwoman sought by intelligence agencies around the world. Drama kills as easily as she breathes…and the last time she and Atticus Kodiak met, they barely escaped each other alive.

Now he is her only hope for survival. And if he thought Drama was stone-code dangerous as a contract killer, Atticus is about to find out the hard way that she is ten times more deadly as a woman.

--Critical Space by Greg Rucka, Copyright ©2001 by Greg Rucka, published by Bantam Dell Books

My Review

This is book 5 in the Atticus Kodiak series.

Atticus’ security company, KTMH, is in high demand, but fame has its price and Atticus does not want their firm to be known as the security company for the rich and spoiled. But they will make an exception for Lady Antonia Ainsley-Hunter.

She’s coming across the pond to make a series of appearance on behalf of her children’s charity. It should be standard work, but there is a stalker following her, complicating matters. There’s also an assassin in the country codenamed Oxford from a secret organization known as The Ten. They don’t know if he’s after Lady Antonia, but they need to be on their guard just in case. Oh, and there’s an international female assassin known as Drama, also part of The Ten. Atticus was lucky to survive his last encounter with Drama and has no desire to ever meet up with her again.

But Drama wants to meet with him and will use Lady Antonia to achieve her goal. Because Oxford isn’t after Lady Antonia, he’s after Drama.

And Drama wants Atticus to protect her.

There’s a reason I don’t like to jump into the middle of a series when reading a new author. There’s usually a long, detailed history on the characters and experiences that you need (or at least want) to know about before you can fully understand the series you’re diving into the middle of. The Atticus Kodiak series illustrates this point.

While Critical Space works delightfully on its own, not knowing the history of the characters and of their past together left me feeling as if I was missing out on something. Even so, it was a great, edge-of-your-seat thriller. I’ll be looking for the other books in the series to catch up on the character’s histories.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

Hour Game

2011-07-03T22:26:00.001-04:00

Hour Game by David Baldacci

He's copying famous serial killers and the game has just begun.

A woman is found murdered in the woods. It seems like a simple case but it soon escalates into a terrible nightmare. Someone is replicating the killing styles of the most infamous murderers of all time. No one knows this criminal's motives...or who will die next.

Two ex-Secret Service agents, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, have been hired to defend a man's innocence in a burglary involving an aristocratic, dysfunctional family. Then a series of secrets leads the partners right into the frantic hunt that is confounding even the FBI. Now King and Maxwell are playing the Hour Game, uncovering one horrifying revelation after another and putting their lives in danger. For the closer they get to the truth, the closer they get to the most shocking surprise of all.

--Hour Game by David Baldacci, Copyright ©2005 by David Baldacci

My Review

This is Book 2 in the Sean King and Michelle Maxwell series.

Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have been hired by Harry Lee Carrick, a local attorney, to investigate a burglary involving one of Wrightsburg, Virginia’s most prominent and wealthiest families, the Battles. The case against his client, Junior Deaver, looks like a perfect slam dunk, but the more they look, the more it looks too perfect.

Meanwhile, a series of murder victims are showing up and the methods reflect those of famous serial killers of the past including The Zodiac and Son of Sam, among others. Each victim is found wearing a watch and each watch is set to the hour that reflects their count in the killer’s agenda (first victim one o’clock, second victim two o’clock, etc.). Given their backgrounds in the Secret Service, the local sheriff is only too glad to deputize King and Maxwell to help him solve these murders before the FBI does.

Can Sean and Michelle find out who’s behind the robbery at the Battles and at the same time figure out who’s killing off the citizens of Wrightsburg before anyone else is killed?

This is a complicated story with several different plots and sub-plots and a large cast of characters—almost too many—each with their own motives and secrets. It was difficult keeping everyone straight. Perhaps if I had been forewarned I could have taken notes, but I muddled through and I was pretty satisfied with the ending when King and Maxwell got their man (men?). However, I think the story suffered by being too complicated. There are those who enjoy deep, involved, interwoven plot lines and those who like to keep their stories simple. If you’re the simple type, you might want to give this story a pass.

Normally, when I start to read a new series, I start with the first book, but since I had listened to almost half of this book on a recent road trip, I decided I had to finish it before I went back to the first book, Split Second. I’m three-quarters of the way through that one and will have its review up soon.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

Talk of the Town

2011-06-18T15:36:00.001-04:00

Talk of the Town by Lisa Wingate

Can anything go right in this tumbleweed town?

Her show, American Megastar, is TV’s hottest program, but life couldn’t be worse for associate producer Mandalay Florentino. She’s just arrived in the hayseed town of Daily, Texas, to arrange a surprise “reunion concert” for hometown finalist Amber Anderson—only everyone seems to know the secret already.

Plus she keeps crossing paths with a gorgeous cowboy with blue eyes who may not be the country boy he appears to be.

And the paparazzi are swarming.

And her boss is demanding perfection…or else.

With the faith and future of a young singer on the line, Mandalay and the town of Daily must find the courage—and the creativity—to make sure the reunion concert is unforgettable!

--Talk of the Town by Lisa Wingate, Copyright ©2008 by Wingate Media LLC, published by Bethany House Publishers

My Review

Mandalay Florentino is an associate producer of the hit TV series American Megastar. She’s a typical twenty-something mid-level executive. Her life is good, but not perfect. Her job on television is not what she set out to do, but she likes it and she’s good at it—at least, she thinks she is. She has a fiancée, but he has yet to buy her a ring. Her boss is a dragon lady, but Manda seems to be handling her well. All in all, everything is okay.

Except…her up-and-coming startlet, Amber Anderson, keeps landing into trouble. She doesn’t mean to—she’s an innocent Gospel singer from a small town in Texas. How was she supposed to know what “going clubbing” meant? And the brat-pack bad-boy the tabloids have her hooked up with—he’s just so sweet with her, she can’t understand how he got that reputation. It all adds up to headaches for Manda. Especially when she finds out a Christian music recording executive may be trying to set up a private meet with Amber, a strict no-no in Amber’s American Megastar contract.

Manda arrives in Daily, Texas, to prepare for a special “reunion” segment of the show. It’s a regular feature of the show, visiting the hometowns of the five finalists to show America where their next megastar grew up. The town of Daily is preparing for its Reunion Days, so what better time than that to bring Daily’s megastar home for a special concert? Problem is, the hometown specials were supposed to be kept secret, and in a small town like Daily, there are no secrets.

She hasn’t told anyone who she is or why she’s in Daily, but the locals aren’t idiots. They figured out pretty quickly that something big was about to happen in their little town and since their girl Amber was on the show, it had to be connected to her. Manda desperately tries to keep the reunion concert secret while at the same time tries to learn everything she can about Amber for the hometown special.

Having everyone in town know about Amber making it to the final five is a small hiccup in her plans, but Manda can work around it. What she can’t work around is her growing feelings for a certain other stranger in town. Carter Woods was in Daily on business though he never specified what that business was. Circumstances throw the two together and Manda’s starting to fall for the Austin cowboy in the Hawaiian shirt. But she has a fiancée…doesn’t she? If so, why did she find his active profile on an on-line dating site?

When she finds out exactly what Carter’s business is, and the plans her own boss has in store for her and for Amber, Manda has a decision to make. Go along with her boss, save her career and watch a potential megastar crumble, or do what’s right and pray that God will help her land on her feet.

I had a little trouble with the format of this story. It’s told in first person, with every odd-numbered chapter from Mandalay’s point-of-view and every even-numbered chapter from Imagene Doll’s (an elderly, colorful resident of Daily) point-of-view. After a while, though, I got used to it and found it was a rather interesting way to tell the story. Not only does the reader get Manda’s view, but the town’s as well through Imagene.

This is a contemporary Christian story, but it’s very light with its Christianity. Most of the characters are Christian and their faith comes through in the way they live and the things they say. It’s not preachy in the slightest, so if those types of stories turn you off, you won’t be turned off by this story. Talk of the Town is a fun, lighthearted romance well worth a read.

I give this story THREE STARS.

Gone Tomorrow

2011-06-10T13:48:00.002-04:00

Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child

New York City. Two in the morning. A subway car heading uptown. Jack Reacher, plus five other passengers. Four are okay. The fifth isn’t. And if you think Reacher isn’t going to get involved…then you don’t know Jack.

Susan Mark was the fifth passenger. She had a lonely heart, an estranged son, and a big secret. Reacher, working with a woman cop and a host of shadowy feds, wants to know just how big a hole Susan Mark was in, how many lives had already been twisted before hers, and what danger is looming around him now.

Because a race has begun through the streets of Manhattan in a maze crowded with violent, skilled soldiers on all sides of a shadow war. Susan Mark’s plain little life was critical to dozens of others in Washington, California, Afghanistan . . . from a former Delta Force operator now running for the U.S. Senate, to a beautiful young woman with a fantastic story to tell–and to a host of others who have just one thing in common: They’re all lying to Reacher. A little. A lot. Or maybe just enough to get him killed.

--Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child, Copyright ©2009 by Lee Child, published by Jove Books

My Review

Gone Tomorrow is the 13th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.
Jack Reacher is back in New York City, riding the subway in the early hours of the morning. Being a former Military Police officer, he can’t help but study the five other passengers in his car. Four of them seem perfectly normal. The fifth, a woman, exhibits all the signs of a suicide bomber.

Reacher figures he has two choices. One, leave the train at the next stop, saving himself and leaving whomever might get caught in the blast to their fate, or two, try and stop her.

He tries to stop her.

Only the large object in her bag isn’t a bomb mechanism, but a gun. And though she initially points it at Reacher, she turns it on herself and pulls the trigger.

When the police arrive, they question everyone. The others on the train, of course, knew nothing, saw nothing. But the police believe the woman, identified as Susan Mark, passed something to Reacher just before she ended her life. She didn’t, but he can’t convince the NYPD of that. Nor can he convince the three Feds or the four shadowy “protection service” gentlemen that she didn’t. Everyone is convinced she gave him something and he can’t convince them that she didn’t. When he’s contacted by a woman named Lila Hoth (the employer of the “protection service”), he finds out that Susan Mark and she had become friends and Susan was coming to New York to deliver some information to Lila regarding a man her mother, Svetlana, met during a trip to Berlin in the early 1980’s.

She told a good story, but Reacher doesn’t quite believe her. For one thing, why would Susan drive all the way from Virginia to New York just to deliver information that could have been sent in an e-mail or relayed over the telephone. Second, Lila says she invited Susan to stay a day or two, maybe take in a show. But Susan had no overnight luggage with her. Third, Lila’s story just doesn’t add up to Reacher. But he received nothing from Susan Mark and therefore, doesn’t want to be involved.

He tries to stay out of it. Really, he does try, but everyone involved in the mysterious “it” keeps dragging him in until Reacher has no choice but to dig in and investigate. And when Jack Reacher investigates, he doesn’t stop until he gets his answers.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

And with this, believe it or not, I’m going to take a little break from my buddy Jack. I've been reading a lot of heavy stuff lately and I need some light, summer fun. Also, I have a lot of books I want to read/listen to and I need to give the others their chance to make it here on A(nother) Year in Reviews. Besides, I have only two books left in the Jack Reacher series, so I want to stretch them out a little. I figure I’ll listen to 61 Hours in late July and then Worth Dying For in September. That’ll set me up nicely for The Affair which will be released in mid-October. Can’t wait!

Savage Nature

2011-06-10T12:07:00.001-04:00

Savage Nature by Christine Feehan

Danger lurks in the shadows and desire shimmers in the sultry heat as leopard shifter Drake Donovan is sent to a Louisiana bayou to investigate a murder. He's ready for anything except the insatiable hunger that rocks him when he meets Saria Boudreaux, a woman with a compelling motive-and ability-to distract him from the task at hand...

--Savage Nature by Christine Feehan, Copyright ©2011 by Christine Feehan, published by Jove Books

My Review

Saria Boudreaux grew up in the Louisiana swamps and there’s nowhere on earth she’d rather be. She was at peace among the reeds, trees, alligators and birds. She knew every breed of every animal and knew how to handle each and every one of them.

However, it was the two-legged animal that worried her. Specifically, the dead ones she was finding in the swamp. She knew she should have told her older brother Remy about them—after all, he is a New Orleans homicide detective, but given the claw marks she found on the bodies, she was afraid he, or one of her other shape-shifter brothers, might be the guilty party.

Instead, she sends a message to Jake Bannaconni, the owner of the land, and tells him what’s going on. He sends one of his men, Drake Donovan, to check it out. Prior to his arrival, he “officially” hires Saria to be his guide through the swamps.

When Drake arrives, he’s immediately drawn to the feisty, independent woman. She brings out the beast in him, literally, and Saria begins to feel something within her that reacts to his beast. He’s a shape-shifter, just like her brothers, just like her, though she’s never known herself to be one. The leopard-people mate for life, Drake informs her, and Drake and Saria have just discovered each other to be their true mate.

It should be easy…Drake claims his mate and they live happily ever after. But the important things in life are never easy. With a series of murders and a drug-running operation to resolve, a leopard lair that’s spiraling out of control and in desperate need of strong leadership, and a mate that’s going into heat—drawing men to her like flies to honey—Drake’s life has suddenly become extremely complicated.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

It’s hard for me to put my finger on exactly what it is that I don’t like about this story. The beginning chapter gives background and history on Saria Boudreaux and it felt a bit like an “info dump,” where the author goes “here’s-important-information-you-need-to-know-to-set-up-the-location-and-background-of-the-main-character-okay?-now-we’ll-get-to-the-good-stuff.” The dialogue between Saria and her brothers in this section is very telling of her relationship with them, but I think the rest of it could have been dispersed better through the story.

There were a few gaps in the story. When we meet Drake, we learn pretty quickly that he’s had a recent injury and is for the most part healed, but he hasn’t been able to shift since his surgery. He never tells Saria (and us) how he was injured. Did this happen in a previous novel? If so, I don’t remember what it was and don’t want to re-read another book to find out. Saria’s brothers have all been away, pursuing careers, but now they’re all back—all at the same time—and no real explanation as to why. Charisse, Saria’s friend, always dresses elegantly but given the fact that she’s pretty isolated from the community and hardly ever goes anywhere, there’s no real reason for it. So why does she do it?

Also, I really didn’t like the scene where Saria is leading Drake and his men through the swamp—it’s a long, drawn-out narrative where the tension builds, and then abruptly ends with a summary of what they find at the end of their trek. The only purpose that scene seemed to serve was to have everyone out all night long so they’d return to the inn exhausted, setting them up for the next dastardly deed of the antagonist.

I enjoy Christine Feehan and this is a good story with a very intriguing mystery twisting away at its center. If you’ve read her books or enjoy shape-shifter stories, you’ll enjoy this one as well. Others might want to take a pass.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

I think I have a case of becoming too familiar with an author’s style and finding they have become predictable. I’ve noticed this with several of my long-time favorite authors. I used to scour web sites for news of when my favorite authors’ next books were about to be released and though I never went so far as to mark my calendar, I did keep a close eye on the dates. Now, while I’ll note that their new book has been released, I’m not so anxious to rush out and get it. Feehan’s Dark Peril came out last year and I bought it, but I have yet to read it and the next in the “Dark” series, Dark Predator, comes out in September. Will I buy it? Sure. Will I read it? Eventually. Same with Nora Roberts--The Search came out July 2010 and I’ve listened to about half the audio book and will try to listen to the rest sometime this summer. The story is a bit predictable, but she’s created two great characters and they are the reason I want to finish it, not the plot itself. Her latest, Chasing Fire came out in April and I have yet to read it (but I do have it on hold at the library and I’m second in line for it, so look for its review sometime soon).

Do you find the same thing happening to you with your favorite authors? I lost interest in Laurell K. Hamilton a long time ago, but a good friend of mine is waiting breathlessly for her next release. If Stephenie Meyers strung out the Twilight saga for 10 or 15 novels, would you still be reading her? What about Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series? John Connelly’s Charlie Parker novels? Will—gasp!—Lee Child’s Jack Reacher still interest me in his 20th book? (I dearly hope so!)

Write the Fight Right

2011-05-30T09:26:00.002-04:00

Write the Fight Right by Alan Baxter

A fiction writer's resource for creating realistic, convincing fight scenes.

Author and martial arts instructor, Alan Baxter, presents a short, ~12,000 word, ebook describing all the things a writer needs to consider when writing fight scenes. Baxter's experience from decades as a career martial artist make this book a valuable resource for writers who want to understand what fighting is all about - what it really feels like and what does and doesn't work - and how to factor those things into their writing to make their fight scenes visceral, realistic page turners. Baxter won't tell you how to write, but he will tell you what makes a great fight scene.

--Write the Fight Right by Alan Baxter, Copyright ©2011 by Alan Baxter

My Review

You’re making great progress in writing your novel and then you come to the climactic fight scene. You know how it’s supposed to go. You can see the whole thing in your head, blow for blow, until the bad guy is down on the ground, bruised, bloody and unconscious with the hero standing over him, fists clenched, barely breathing hard, not a hair out of place. The girl runs into the hero’s arms, they kiss, end of story.

So you write it, and somehow, on paper, it’s not as good as it was in your head. Or your critiquers put voice to your fear: “Sorry, it’s just not realistic.” So you rewrite and rewrite and you just can’t get it. You need experience, you figure, but you’ve never been in a fight in your life. You’ve only watched them on television and in movies. How can you write what you don’t know? Short of starting a barroom brawl, what do you do?

Start by reading this book.

Write the Fight Right by Alan Baxter, writer and martial arts instructor, knows how to write and knows how to fight. He wrote this book to help you and me, the non-fighter, write our fight scenes with confidence and accuracy so no one can tell us, “Sorry, it’s just not realistic.”

The book is broken out into small chapters that cover the various techniques of fighting as well as reactions and outcomes. It also includes a cheat sheet checklist and a sample fight scene.

“This book won’t teach you how to fight, but it will teach you some of the things you need to know to write convincingly about fighting.”

As you read this how-to-write book, keep paper and pen handy because you will want to take notes. Some of the information seems obvious, like “nothing is more important in fighting that footwork,” and “it’s hard to hit a moving target.” We know those things already (right?). But how about “when you fight, you will get hit.” We may not want a single hair on our hero’s head to be disturbed, but in a real fight, his opponent will land blows and he will get hit. He has to, if you want to keep it real. And getting hit hurts. It hurts everyone, even the most intrepid of heroes. He may even feel like crying after being hit, which is a natural reaction. Add these facts into your story, and the realism starts to come. Readers will start to believe your fight scenes.

(But of course, we’d never allow our hero to cry. Let the bad guy be the blubbering baby after the hero delivers a crushing right cross.)

“When two tigers fight, one limps away, terribly wounded. The other is dead.” – old Chinese proverb.

You can’t learn fighting from a book, but with this book and your fertile writer’s imagination, you can factor in elements you may not ever have considered and make your fight scenes realistic, so readers will think you know what you’re talking about. And they’ll want to read more. That’s the hallmark of a good story.

Alan Baxter is a British-Australian author living on the south coast of NSW, Australia. He writes dark fantasy, sci fi and horror, rides a motorcycle and loves his dog. He also teaches Kung Fu. Read extracts from his novels, a novella and short stories at his website – www.alanbaxteronline.com – and feel free to tell him what you think. About anything.

Write the Fight Right is currently available only as a Kindle e-book through the Amazon link below or through Smashword’s web site (click here for a direct link to the book). The price is right ($1.99 USD) so click away!

I give the book FOUR stars.

Rain Fall

2011-05-26T20:48:00.003-04:00

Rain Fall by Barry Eisler

Born of an American mother and a Japanese father, John Rain is a businessman based in Tokyo, living a life of meticulously planned anonymity. Trained by the U.S. Special Forces and a veteran of Vietnam, he is a cool, self-contained loner—and he has built a steady business over the past twenty-five years specializing in death by “natural causes.” He is also a man struggling with his own divided nature: Japanese/American; soldier/assassin; samurai/ronin.

From its richly atmospheric and ominous opening pages—in which we witness the death of a stranger in a crowded subway car—Rain’s carefully ordered world begins to unravel. Unknown agents from within and without the international intelligence communities have been circling him for years and, having connected him to the subway job, now have the scent they have been seeking. At the same time, Rain is drawn outside his private world by an alluring jazz pianist, the dead man’s daughter, who is the key to the very secrets that her father died trying to reveal.
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John Rain, a Japanese American konketsu, or half-breed, learned his lethal trade as a member of the U.S. Special Forces. Although tortured by memories of atrocities he committed in Vietnam, he has become a paid assassin, a solitary man who lives in the shadows and trusts no one, even those who pay extraordinary sums for his ability to make murder look like natural death. But the aftermath of an otherwise routine hit on a government bureaucrat brings Rain to the attention of two men he knows from the old days in Vietnam: a friend who's now a Tokyo cop and an enemy who betrayed Rain long ago and is now the CIA's station chief in Japan. Like the gangster who hired Rain to kill Yasuhiro Kawamura, they want something the dead man had--a computer disk containing proof of high-level corruption, information that could destroy Japan's ruling political coalition. The search for the disk leads them to a woman Rain has come to love, a talented young jazz musician who also happens to be Kawamura's daughter. --Jane Adams –Amazon.com review

--Rain Fall by Barry Eisler, Copyright ©2002 by Barry Eisler

My Review

Rain Fall is the 1st book in the John Rain series.

John Rain, professional assassin, has only three rules. One, his target must be male. Two, he works exclusively—no competition. Three, the target must be a principle, no killing one person to send a message to another. So when he accepts the assignment to take out Yasuhiro Kawamura, a bureaucrat connected with the Liberal Democratic Party, he confirms these three facts and sets out to learn as much as he could about his target in order to make the man’s death look as natural as possible. That’s his specialty, after all.

When Kawamura collapses on the Tokyo subway, it looks like a heart attack. The autopsy will reveal that the man’s pacemaker must have malfunctioned, eliminating any needs for a homicide investigation. Rain is satisfied that the job is complete, however, he’s mildly bothered by the gaijin, a Westerner who appears to be trying to help Kawamura, but in fact, starts searching the dead man’s pockets. But there’s nothing he can do about that.

Days later, Rain finds out that during Kawamura’s funeral, someone tossed Kawamura’s apartment. He comes to the conclusion that the Westerner was supposed to meet Kawamura and receive something from him, something that would cause a later search of the dead man’s apartment. Not his problem, but he’s intrigued to find out Kawamura had a daughter, Midori, and that she was an up-and-coming jazz musician. Rain enjoys jazz and decided to catch one of her performances at a local club. But he’s not the only aficionado of Midori’s music. The Westerner who searched Kawamura’s pockets shows up. After her performance, Rain follows the Westerner to a nearby Starbucks, where he’s arranged a meeting with Midori. Rain, watching from a diner across the street, sees that the meeting does not go well and can’t help but want to find out what exactly is going on.

His curiosity is aroused even further when he receives another job assignment. The target? Midori Kawamura. Kawamura had something he was supposed to give to the Westerner, but was unable to. Now the people hiring Rain believe Midori is in the possession of the mysterious “something,” so she must be eliminated as well.

This violates one of his rules and he decides to do the exact opposite. Instead of taking out the target, he’s going to protect the target. And in the process, becomes a target himself.

I’d seen Barry Eisler’s Rain series on the shelves of my library but with so many unread books at home, I couldn’t bring myself to insert this book ahead of all those. But two weeks ago, looking for something new, my mind latched on to this book and wouldn’t let go. So I went ahead and checked it out. I’m glad I did because this was a very well written story, although it did delve rather strongly into Rain’s background. All the forays into the past began to bother me after a while, but I knew that they were necessary to explain Rain’s history and how he became the man he is today. I’m hoping that the remaining books in the series, Hard Rain, Rain Storm, Killing Rain, The Last Assassin and Requiem for an Assassin will not go so much into the past (unless truly necessary) and will focus on Rain’s future adventures.

I give it THREE stars.

Nothing to Lose

2011-05-26T00:52:00.001-04:00

Nothing to Lose by Lee Child

Two lonely towns in Colorado: Hope and Despair. Between them, twelve miles of empty road. Jack Reacher never turns back. It's not in his nature. All he wants is a cup of coffee. What he gets is big trouble. So in Lee Child’s electrifying new novel, Reacher—a man with no fear, no illusions, and nothing to lose—goes to war against a town that not only wants him gone, it wants him dead.

It wasn’t the welcome Reacher expected. He was just passing through, minding his own business. But within minutes of his arrival a deputy is in the hospital and Reacher is back in Hope, setting up a base of operations against Despair, where a huge, seething walled-off industrial site does something nobody is supposed to see . . . where a small plane takes off every night and returns seven hours later . . . where a garrison of well-trained and well-armed military cops—the kind of soldiers Reacher once commanded—waits and watches . . . where above all two young men have disappeared and two frightened young women wait and hope for their return.

Joining forces with a beautiful cop who runs Hope with a cool hand, Reacher goes up against Despair—against the deputies who try to break him and the rich man who tries to scare him—and starts to crack open the secrets, starts to expose the terrifying connection to a distant war that’s killing Americans by the thousand.

Now, between a town and the man who owns it, between Reacher and his conscience, something has to give. And Reacher never gives an inch.

--Nothing to Lose by Lee Child, Copyright ©2008 by Lee Child

My Review

Nothing to Lose is the 12th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.

After spending the night in Hope, Colorado, Reacher heads west. He’d been in Calais, Maine, and decided to go to San Diego. Rather than catch a cross-country bus to get there in a couple days, he walks, or hitches rides, or catches a bus to get from one place to the next, slowly making his way to the south and west. He’s in no hurry. Jack Reacher is a man with no responsibilities and he has all the time in the world.

West of the town of Hope is the town of Despair. He stops in at a diner for a cup of coffee but has a hard time getting service. He eventually gets his coffee, and then he gets arrested for vagrancy and a ride back to the boundary between Hope and Despair with a stern warning not to return.

Leaving town is fine with him, but he didn’t want to go east. If the deputy had taken him to the western town border and dropped him off there, he would have happily gone on his way to San Diego. But the deputy took him to the east, backtracking Reacher’s path, and Reacher hates turning back.

Deputy Vaughn of the Hope P.D. picks him up and takes him back to town. He questions her about the unusual treatment he got in Despair and doesn’t like what he hears. He decides to defy the Despair judge’s orders and returns to do a little exploring. On his way back to Hope, he stumbles over a dead body. A young man who likely died of dehydration, he figures, but can’t tell much in the darkness. When he returns in the daylight with Vaughn, the body’s gone.

He borrows Vaughn’s truck so he can better explore the area. He drives the long way around and approaches the town from the west, where he finds a small military guard post. Now why would a small town in Colorado have a military guard post on the only road west of town manned by soldiers fresh from Iraq?

Deciding he needs to investigate even further, he returns again the next day and enters the metal processing plant. He explores the facility and before long, is apprehended by plant security. Jerry Thurman, the plant’s—and the town’s—owner decides to give Reacher a tour of the plant. He answers Reacher’s questions and though they’re perfectly plausible answers, Reacher doesn’t believe them.

Being the sort of man he is, Reacher doesn’t like unusual situations. He also doesn’t like it when people lie to him or when bodies of young men disappear. He wants to know what’s going on in Despair and he’ll do whatever it takes to expose all of Despair’s secrets.

As I read this story, I couldn’t help but emphasize with the people of Despair. They’re just living their lives, maybe not happily, but it’s not a bad life. And here comes this know-it-all former Military Policeman, butting his nose into their business, asking all sorts of questions and making demands for information. Why is there a walled-off section of the plant’s compound? Thurman flies his airplane every night…where does he go? Why does he do it? What is the military guard post guarding against? What’s in the sealed shipping containers? If the plant is doing so well, why isn’t the town prospering? Plus he’s asking a lot of other questions that have nothing to do with Despair. Why can’t this guy mind his own business?

Of course, when you reach the end of the story, you’re grateful he did butt his nose in and prevented a cataclysm of epic proportions.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

Where am I?

2011-05-08T22:37:00.000-04:00

So where am I...This time last year, I had read 30 books. As of today, it's 20 with two rejects (two books that I stopped reading because I lost interest in the story). I'm just a wee bit off my pace, wouldn't you say? At this rate, I'll be lucky to finish 50 books by the end of the year. But my life has changed so much in the last year--I have a job and I work out at the gym four or five days a week, things that take up much of the time that was free the previous year. Yard work is starting to take over as well, and there's a lot of work to be done in my yard.

It bothers me a little that I'm not reading as much as I used to. I tell myself it's no big deal...I have things in my life now that take me from being very sedentary to busy and active, and that's a good thing. But I also kinda miss the books. And since I'm not reading as much, I'm not updating this blog as much, which, I hope, is not disappointing to my many followers .

But anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Thanks for sticking with me and I promise to keep updating as I finish books. There just won't be quite as many as there were last year.

Keep reading everyone!

Bad Luck & Trouble

2011-05-08T20:37:00.001-04:00

Bad Luck & Trouble by Lee Child

From a helicopter high above the California desert, a man is sent free-falling into the night. On the streets of Portland, Jack Reacher is pulled out of his wandering life and plunged into the heart of a conspiracy that is killing old friends . . . and the people he once trusted with his life.

Reacher is the ultimate loner–no phone, no ties, no address. But a woman from his old military unit has found him using a signal only the eight members of their elite team would know. Then she tells him a terrifying story about the brutal death of a man they both served with. Soon Reacher is reuniting with the survivors of his team, scrambling to unravel the sudden disappearance of two other comrades. But Reacher won’t give up–because in a world of bad luck and trouble, when someone targets Jack Reacher and his team, they’d better be ready for what comes right back at them.

--Bad Luck & Trouble by Lee Child, Copyright ©2007 by Lee Child

My Review

Bad Luck & Trouble is the 11th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.

Reacher is in Portland, checking his bank balance at an ATM (he finally got an ATM card!) and discovers a discrepancy. There’s too much money in the account. One thousand thirty dollars too much, to be exact. One-Oh-Three-Oh. He knows that number. One of his old team is reaching out for his help. A call to the bank gives him the answer. It’s Frances Neagley (from Without Fail), a member of an elite Army Military Police special investigation team he headed up for two years.

He joins Neagley in Los Angeles where she tells him some bad news. Another member of their team, Calvin Franz, was found dead in the desert outside L.A. (you might remember him from The Enemy). He was murdered, pushed out of a helicopter. The bad news doesn’t end there…she’s tried contacting all the members of their old team and none of them so far have responded. No one but Reacher. We need to reunite the old team, she says, so we can find out what’s going on.

Eventually, two more members of the team find them, Carla Dixon and David O’Donnell. Tony Swann, Manuel Orosco and Jorge Sanchez remain missing. Together, the four of them begin to piece together the few clues they have…a confusing series of figures, a list of five names, and a note scribbled on a napkin. From the figures, they divine the number 650 is important, but how it relates is anyone’s guess. Of the list of names, they figure the first is someone’s real name followed by four aliases. They decide one of their four friends ran into a situation and called for help from the three that lived closest. But which one called on the others is another unknown. Since Manuel Orosco and Jorge Sanchez ran a casino security firm in Las Vegas, they figure the numbers have something to do with the casinos, so they go to Vegas. But Vegas proves to be a waste of time. Except for the man who tried to kill them on a deserted side street.

That’s when things get interesting.

Who is this almost-killer? Who does he work for? What’s his connection—is there a connection?—to any of their missing friends? Who is the man with the four aliases and how does he figure in?

With the dead man’s identity known, they’re able to start putting the pieces together. And the picture isn’t a pretty one. But in the end, the bad guys find out exactly why the old unit’s motto used to be, and still is, “You don’t mess with the Special Investigators.”

I think it’s nice that Reacher got to reunite with his old friends, even if some of them are, sadly, unable to join the party. It’s almost too bad that they part ways at the end of the story. I’d love to see the four of them working together again in the future. But even though I’m pretty sure that won’t happen, I’m also pretty sure we’ll be seeing Frances Neagley again. Just a feeling…

I give this story FOUR STARS.

Thicker Than Water

2011-04-28T16:02:00.003-04:00

Thicker Than Water by Maggie Shayne

It was called a haven for runaway teens. In truth, it was a nightmare, one that ended in a fiery violence sixteen years ago. Or so its survivors believed…

Syracuse news anchor Julie Jones is afraid. Her long-dead past was resurrected when a blackmailer threatened to expose secrets that could destroy her. Then the man was found dead—his throat cut with a knife from Julie’s own kitchen. Now a new, faceless enemy wants more than money. This time Julie stands to lose the most precious thing of all—her teenaged daughter, Dawn.

Julie finds herself with one unlikely ally, Sean MacKenzie. A journalist with a flair for the sensational, Sean covers the worst humanity has to offer. Julie Jones I hiding something that terrifies her, and he’s determined to find out what. He just can’t decide whether his goal is to expose her or save her.

Julie will do anything to protect her daughter. But someone else is watching, willing to do whatever it takes to avenge a past that cannot be forgotten.

--Thicker Than Water by Maggie Shayne, Copyright ©2003 by Margaret Benson, published by Mira Books

My Review

Blackmail is an ugly thing. Even uglier when you’re the one being blackmailed.

Julie Jones, respected Syracuse television news anchor, knows that fact all too well. But she’s had enough. She’s not going to pay her blackmailer any more, no matter what happens. But when she steps out of the bathroom of her blackmailer’s hotel room to deliver the bad news, she finds him dead on the floor. Someone managed to sneak into the room while she was in the bathroom and stabbed Harry Blackwood to death.

She makes her escape but in her haste, dropped her keys. She bluffs her way past the cops and manages to find a way to make the appearance of her keys plausible. But do they, or her new co-anchor, Sean MacKenzie believe her?

Sean and Julie have a special kind of chemistry between them, one that works well on the television screen but not so well in real life. Or does it? Sean’s attracted to Julie despite what his instincts are telling him. They’re telling him the lady has something to hide, and being the reporter he is, he wants to dig and find the answers. She’s connected to the dead man and he’s going to find out what that connection is.

Meanwhile, they have another story to work on, a human interest-type regarding renown seer and psychic Nathan Z. Julie’s daughter, Dawn, idolizes the seer and goes with Julie and Sean to a taping of one of his shows. Julie is shocked to realize Nathan Z is actually Mordecai Young, the leader of a “cult” she had briefly been a member of. Young died years earlier when the compound was raided by the FBI, or so she and everyone else in the world thought. But he managed to survive and there’s something he wants.

His daughter.

Julie’s daughter.

Julie would move heaven and earth to protect Dawn from Young. Can she trust Sean enough to accept his help when she is still suspicious of his true motives?

I give this story THREE STARS.

The Hard Way

2011-04-28T15:20:00.003-04:00

The Hard Way by Lee Child

Jack Reacher was alone, the way he liked it, soaking up the hot, electric New York City night, watching a man cross the street to a parked Mercedes and drive it away. The car contained one million dollars in ransom money because Edward Lane, the man who paid it, would do anything to get his family back.

Lane runs a highly illegal soldiers-for-hire operation. He will use any tool to find his beautiful wife and child. And Jack Reacher is the best manhunter in the world.

On the trail of vicious kidnappers, Reacher learns the chilling secrets of his employer’s past . . . and of a horrific drama in the heart of a nasty little war. He knows that Edward Lane is hiding something. Something dirty. Something big. But Reacher also knows this: He’s already in way too deep to stop now. And if he has to do it the hard way, he will.

--The Hard Way by Lee Child, Copyright ©2006 by Lee Child

My Review

The Hard Way is the 10th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.

It was just another night at a sidewalk café in New York City. Reacher was enjoying a cup of coffee when he saw a man cross the street, enter a car, and drive away. That’s all. Nothing special. But very significant.

The following night at the same café (the coffee was very good), a stranger approaches Reacher. Did you see a man enter a car and drive off? You did? My name is Gregory. I need you to come with me and describe him to my boss.

And so begins another Jack Reacher adventure.

Upon arriving at an apartment in The Dakota, Reacher meets Gregory’s boss, Edward Lane. After some fishing on both sides, Reacher finds out exactly what he witnessed. Lane’s wife and step-daughter were kidnapped and the ransom money was in that car. Unfortunately, Reacher can’t give much of a description because he never really saw the driver’s face. He does, however, agree to help Lane out. You might say women and children in danger are Reacher’s hot button issues. He can’t help wanting to solve their problems.

He tells Lane the kidnappers will call again, this time for more money. Lane and his men are skeptical, but eventually the phone rings with a demand for more money, five million this time. Lane pays. Reacher says the next call will demand ten million. The phone rings. They want more money, but this time, they’re asking for four and a half million. Ten and a half all together. The figure bothers Reacher. What’s the significance behind the number?

Reacher finds out Lane and his men are mercenaries and they’ve done some work for the Pentagon. A few years ago he and his men did a job in Burkina Faso, but two men didn’t return from that assignment. Now that he has a lead, Reacher knows what to do. Because one of the two men left behind died in Burkina Faso, the other returned to America. And 10.5 million is exactly half of the payment Lane received for the Burkina Faso job.

So is this a case of the man left behind seeking compensation? Or is there something else going on that Reacher doesn’t know about…yet? Because Reacher won’t stop until he finds the truth…all of it.

Another great Jack Reacher story, but I have to admit, there was … something … about this one that felt off to me. It was everything I’d come to expect with all the twists, turns and fabulous action of a classic Lee Child novel, but I think I’m becoming too used to his style. You see, I knew from the beginning that there was going to be more behind the kidnapping than just the straightforward facts and that two seemingly unrelated events were going to be tied together the obvious way and a more obscure way that Reacher has to dig out. That’s been the pattern of most if not all the Jack Reacher novels, so maybe that’s my problem. I guess I’ll just have to deal with it because I can’t wait to start the next book.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

One Shot

2011-04-18T19:18:00.001-04:00

One Shot by Lee Child

Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me.

And sure enough, ex—military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. He knows this shooter–a trained military sniper who never should have missed a shot. Reacher is certain something is not right–and soon the slam-dunk case explodes.

Now Reacher is teamed with a beautiful young defense lawyer, moving closer to the unseen enemy who is pulling the strings. Reacher knows that no two opponents are created equal. This one has come to the heartland from his own kind of hell. And Reacher knows that the only way to take him down is to match his ruthlessness and cunning–and then beat him shot for shot.

--One Shot by Lee Child, Copyright ©2005 by Lee Child, published by Bantam Dell

My Review

A man walks into an empty parking garage on a Friday evening and, with his sniper rifle, calmly shoots five people, then disappears before the police can even be called. The evidence left behind on the scene is collected, analyzed, and just six hours later, the gunman, James Barr, is arrested. A slam-dunk case.

Except…the man arrested says he didn’t do it and makes one request. “Get Jack Reacher for me.” The defense team starts looking, but Jack Reacher is no where to be found. He doesn’t have an address, a telephone number, doesn’t file taxes or own a car. How can they find someone that doesn’t seem to exist?

But Reacher does exist, and he’s already on his way. And when he arrives, he stuns Barr’s sister by declaring he’s not there to help James. He’s there to bury him.

Only…as Reacher reviews the evidence, he begins to find problems. Little things that no one else seems to notice or question. But Reacher notices. And as he digs deeper he comes to the conclusion that Barr indeed didn’t do it.

But if he didn’t, who did? And why did they do it? And why are they framing Barr? What’s the purpose behind the assassination of five innocent, unrelated individuals?

These are the questions Reacher must answer, before he becomes the next victim.

For those of you who have read through my reviews (and if you haven’t why not?), you’ll notice this is a repeat. Because I am reading all of the Lee Child/Jack Reacher novels from the beginning of the series, I couldn’t skip over this one, even though I read it for the first time less than a year ago. I can honestly say I only half enjoyed this re-read, because I knew how the story would go but I still enjoyed all the intricate details that make up a Lee Child novel.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

The Enemy

2011-04-11T09:51:00.001-04:00

The Enemy by Lee Child

Jack Reacher. Hero. Loner. Soldier. Soldier’s son.

An elite military cop, he was one of the army’s brightest stars. But in every cop’s life there is a turning point. One case. One messy, tangled case that can shatter a career. Turn a lawman into a renegade. And make him question words like honor, valor, and duty. For Jack Reacher, this is that case.

New Year’s Day, 1990. The Berlin Wall is coming down. The world is changing. And in a North Carolina “hot-sheets” motel, a two-star general is found dead. His briefcase is missing. Nobody knows what was in it. Within minutes Jack Reacher has his orders: Control the situation. But this situation can’t be controlled. Within hours the general’s wife is murdered hundreds of miles away. Then the dominoes really start to fall. Two Special Forces soldiers—the toughest of the tough—are taken down, one at a time. Top military commanders are moved from place to place in a bizarre game of chess. And somewhere inside the vast worldwide fortress that is the U.S. Army, Jack Reacher—an ordinarily untouchable investigator for the 110th Special Unit—is being set up as a fall guy with the worst enemies a man can have.

But Reacher won’t quit. He’s fighting a new kind of war. And he’s taking a young female lieutenant with him on a deadly hunt that leads them from the ragged edges of a rural army post to the winding streets of Paris to a confrontation with an enemy he didn’t know he had. With his French-born mother dying—and divulging to her son one last, stunning secret—Reacher is forced to question everything he once believed…about his family, his career, his loyalties—and himself. Because this soldier’s son is on his way into the darkness, where he finds a tangled drama of desperate desires and violent death—and a conspiracy more chilling, ingenious, and treacherous than anyone could have guessed.

--The Enemy by Lee Child, Copyright ©2004 by Lee Child, published by Delacorte Press

My Review

The Enemy is the 8th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.

Come back in time to 1990 and learn a bit about Jack Reacher’s past. A few days before New Year’s, he was in Panama, working to help bring down Noriega and watching the Germans tear down the Berlin Wall when he gets orders from his boss, Colonel Leon Garber, transferring him to Fort Bird, North Carolina. He doesn’t know why he, one of the top cops in the Army, was transferred to a quiet post in North Carolina where nothing’s happening. He’s still trying to figure it out when, less than an hour into the New Year, he receives a phone call from the local civilian cops. An officer has died in a seedy, pay-by-the-hour motel, what do you want to do?

At first, Reacher doesn’t want to do anything. The officer obviously paid for the night’s company and had a heart attack in the middle of the action (what a way to go, right?). Let the civilians take care of it—after all, it happened on their turf. Then he finds out the officer is a two-star general just in from West Germany on a layover to Fort Irwin, California. Now he needs to get involved in protecting the general’s and the Army’s reputation.

He recruits Lieutenant Summer, a female officer, to go with him to the general’s wife’s home in Green Valley, Virginia, to let her know of her husband’s death. They arrive at her home…and find her dead. A burglary gone bad from the looks of it. They inform the local cops and return to Fort Bird to resume their cover-up of the circumstances in the general’s death.

It seems like a straight-forward task until Reacher realizes the general’s briefcase is missing. And a two-star would never travel without a briefcase, even if there was nothing in there but yesterday’s newspaper. He also finds it odd that the general would fly into Washington Dulles from Frankfurt am Main, West Germany, drive all the way down to North Carolina to spend the night, then (plan to) drive to Washington National to catch a flight to California and not even stop in to see his wife. It doesn’t compute, unless there was a special reason to spend the night in North Carolina. Reacher wants to know what that reason was, but the general’s travel companions—who themselves stayed in a D.C. hotel—aren’t saying. The missing briefcase and the Fort Irwin meeting agenda are the vital key in this mystery, he’s certain of that. If only he could find them.

Another phone call and another dead body. This time, it’s a soldier and he was killed on base. From the looks of it, it was a hate crime—the dead soldier was gay. A few hours later, Reacher finds out about another dead soldier in Columbia, South Carolina.

In the midst of covering up what needs to be covered up and trying to figure out exactly what went wrong for the general, the local guy and the one in Columbia, Reacher receives a call from his brother, Joe. Their mother, who lives in Paris, has broken her leg. They need to go see her. Reacher leaves a message with Garber’s office, meets his brother at Dulles and flies to Paris.

Reunited with their mother, they find out she has more than just a broken leg. She has cancer, and it’s too late to do anything about it. She has one request, and that is to spend the day with her sons. They oblige, of course, talking about old times and sharing adventures. The next day, they return to the US…where Reacher is promptly arrested. Seems he’s gone AWOL. How can I be AWOL, he asks. I called Garber’s office. Yes, but Garber’s been posted to Korea and Reacher’s new boss, Colonel Willard, did not give him permission to leave his post.

Details, details.

Reacher doesn’t like Willard from the start and sets about letting him know it. Willard wants him to back off the local guy’s death, officially classifying it as a training accident, the general simply died of a heart attack and he has no jurisdiction over the body in Columbia, but Reacher, being Reacher smells a connection between the deaths. With Lieutenant Summer’s help, he goes about disobeying orders and doing what he does best, putting everything on the line to get to the heart of the matter, even if it means he may wind up at Fort Leavenworth.

I give this story FIVE STARS.

Honestly, I wanted to turn the dial up to eleven. This is, so far, my absolute favorite book of the series.

I’m an Army brat, so I don’t know if I’d feel the same about Reacher if he had been in the Navy, Air Force (sorry, Mike!) or the Marines. But he was Army, so I have to love the guy. And while I may not know as much about Army life as a soldier would, the things I do know (and the things I don’t even realize I know) Child got absolutely spot-on right. His depth of knowledge and the accuracy of his research into the minutiae of the Army left me stunned. I am simply in awe of Lee Child and the writer in me wishes I could study at his feet.

Okay, that’s enough hero worship.

Now, I’ve already read the next book in the series, One Shot (here’s the review I wrote last year) and it wasn’t so long ago that I’ve forgotten what the story was about, so my question is, do I listen to the audio version next or skip it and go on to The Hard Way?

…pfft, as if there was any question I wouldn’t re-read one of his books!

The Arcanum

2011-04-11T09:33:00.001-04:00

The Arcanum by Thomas Wheeler

Plunge into an age when genius and madness walked hand in hand. The year is 1919 and the Great War has come to a close. But in the shadows of the world’s major cities, the killing has just begun. In this perilous time, as the division between order and chaos grows increasingly slim, a select group of visionaries have sworn to vanquish evil and ensure the safety of humanity. They are Harry Houdini, the world’s greatest magician; notorious voodoo princess Marie Laveau; weird-fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft; and the ingenious Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself. Together, they are known as The Arcanum.

--The Arcanum by Thomas Wheeler, Copyright ©2004 by Thomas Wheeler, published by Bantam Books

My Review

The year is 1919, the place is London, England, and Konstantine Duvall has died, hit by a drunk driver. An accident, the police say. There was a horrible fog around the London Museum, the driver couldn’t see, the man shouldn’t have been walking in the street.

But Konstantin Duvall was no ordinary man, and when the great writer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle learns of his death, he fears the worst. For Duvall was the keeper of a great number of secrets and one of those secrets is lost. The Book of Enoch, a “lost” book of the Bible, was in Duvall’s care and now it is missing. Doyle must find it, and quickly.

He travels to New York City to reunite his friends, Harry Houdini, H.P. Lovecraft, Marie Laveau (fortunately, she heeded her own visions and traveled to New York, saving Doyle a trip to Louisiana), the former members of the Arcanum, Investigators of the Extraordinary, to find the book. But it’s not as simple as he’d like it to be, for there are others who covet the book and would use it for their own purposes.

A great evil is stirring in New York and the Arcanum quickly find themselves enmeshed in it. Can they all survive, can they all remain sane, to see their great task through to the end?

I loved the premise of this story, that these great figures of the early 20th century could be part of some secret society and they would band together to save the world, but as the story progressed, I got more and more bored with it. Had I known the occult would play such a heavy part in the plot, I would never have bought the book (though I suppose Marie Laveau’s name on the back cover should have been a giveaway). Even discounting that element, I found the book difficult to read as the action cut from one character to the other, hosts of new characters are added when it’s convenient to add them (and I couldn’t tell if some of those characters were real people, like Aleister Crowley, or made up for the story, like Darian DeMarcus), and places and events I’m unfamiliar with are discussed. If you’re a historian familiar with this time in history, perhaps you would have an easier time following the action. I got lost so many times I nearly gave up on this book half way through. But I persisted and finished.

I will say I do like how it ended, with Lovecraft putting one over on Crowley and the others elevating Lovecraft’s status. Well done you, Howard.

There are a number of laudable quotes on the back and just inside the front cover, so obviously this book has an audience. I, unfortunately, should never have been a member of that audience.

I give this story ONE STAR.

Kindred in Death

2011-04-06T14:14:00.001-04:00

Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb

When the newly promoted captain of the NYPSD and his wife return a day early from their vacation, they are looking forward to spending time with their bright and vivacious sixteen-year-old daughter, who stayed behind.

Not even their worst nightmares could prepare them for the crime scene that awaits them instead. Deena has been brutally murdered in her bedroom, and her body shows signs of trauma that horrify even the toughest of cops, including our own Lieutenant Eve Dallas, who is specifically requested by the captain to investigate.

When the evidence starts to pile up, Dallas and her team think they are about to arrest their perpetrator; little do they know that someone has gone to great lengths to tease and taunt them by using a variety of identities.

Overconfidence can lead to careless mistakes. But for Dallas, one mistake might be all she needs to serve justice.

--Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb, Copyright ©2009 by J.D. Robb, published by Penguin Books

My Review

Kindred in Death starts as all of the In Death books do…with murder. This time, it’s young Deena McMasters. Someone managed to get access to her home, and to her, to carry out the bloody, horrific crime. When her parents return home from vacation, they find her body, and her father, NYPSD Captain McMasters specifically requests Lieutenant Eve Dallas as primary.

Dallas and her partner, Detective Delia Peabody, hit the ground running. In speaking with her best friend, she finds out Deena had a secret boyfriend who wasn’t all he claimed to be. He said he was a student at Columbia, a story Dallas quickly disproves. What else wasn’t he, she wonders, and quickly set out finding this Columbia-student-impostor.

As Dallas digs, she finds a startling motive and a strange reflection back to her own past. There’s no connection, but the similarities are unnerving, and that just makes Dallas want to put an end to the murder’s plans even more.

She’s hot on his trail, but not before he manages to claim another victim. The McMasters family is planning a memorial for Deena and Dallas knows her egotistical murder won’t resist the opportunity to make an appearance. Can Dallas apprehend her prey before he gets away to kill again?

The more I read J.D. Robb's stories, the more they begin to sound the same and the more I can predict what will happen next. In this story, as soon as the memorial service was announced, I knew Dallas would set up an operation to take down their main suspect at the service. But I also knew that he would somehow get away and they would make their grab at the third victim's home. And I was right. My interest in the series is waning...as evidence, consider that Kindred in Death came out in late 2009 and I only just now read it. I have the next in the series, Indulgence in Death but I'm not sure I'm going to buy the latest, Treachery in Death. I may wait until it comes out in paperback...we'll see.

I give this story THREE STARS.

Persuader

2011-03-30T09:41:00.001-04:00

Persuader by Lee Child

Jack Reacher.

The ultimate loner.

An elite ex-military cop who left the service years ago, he’s moved from place to place…without family…without possessions…without commitments.

And without fear. Which is good, because trouble—big, violent, complicated trouble—finds Reacher wherever he goes. And when trouble finds him, Reacher does not quit, not once…not ever.

But some unfinished business has now found Reacher. And Reacher is a man who hates unfinished business.

Ten years ago, a key investigation went sour and someone got away with murder. Now a chance encounter brings it all back. Now Reacher sees his one last shot. Some would call it vengeance. Some would call it redemption. Reacher would call it…justice.

--Persuader by Lee Child, Copyright ©2003 by Lee Child, published by Delacorte Books

My Review

Persuader is the 7th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.

Reacher’s back and this time, he’s in the right place at the right time to save a young college student from a kidnapping. He and the boy, Richard Beck, get away, but not before Reacher kills a cop.

A couple weeks earlier, Reacher was in Boston where he saw a dead man named Quinn. At least, he was supposed to be dead. He knows Quinn is supposed to be dead because Reacher was the one that killed him. Guess he missed. In trying to trace Quinn, he comes to the attention of the DEA, specifically Agent Susan Duffy and her team. It seems Quinn—or whatever his name is now—and his possible partner Zachary Beck, Richard’s father, are being watched by the DEA. Reacher wants Quinn, the DEA wants Beck. They team up and devise a scheme to get Reacher in to the Beck estate. Hence, the faked kidnapping.

Oh, and did I mention that Duffy and her team are not officially on the Beck case? Seems Duffy made a big mistake, so she and her team were removed from the Beck case. But they have a missing agent, Theresa Daniels, and they’re determined to get her back, no matter what the cost.

So Reacher’s in and he’s learning as much as he can about Beck’s rug importing business. The rugs, they figure, are a great way to stash incoming drugs, but in searching a shipment, they find nothing. Not even a hint of drugs. So what’s going on?

Meanwhile, it’s obvious Beck’s into some serious dirty dealings as Reacher is recruited to help get rid of a body at the Beck estate, and later on, several more. The house is on the Maine coast and there’s a strong rip tide where “bodies go in and they never come back.” One of the bodies is of the house maid, whom Reacher later finds out was a government agent. But Duffy and her people can’t find any trace of her. Who was she? And who else is after Beck?

Reacher begins to gain Beck’s trust and works his way up in the “organization.” In the process, he learns exactly what Beck and Quinn are into and figures he knows how to take out Quinn and hand Beck over to the DEA. But things never go exactly as planned and before it’s all over, Reacher finds himself within a hair’s breath of “going in and never coming back.”

Another excellent read by Lee Child, and the first one he’s written in first person. At first, I was a little bothered by this but quickly found that I like being a little deeper inside Jack Reacher’s head. It’s an interesting place to be…

** EDIT **
Um...I was wrong. This wasn't the first first-person novel. The very first book, Killing Floor was the first first-person novel...sorry!

I give this story FOUR STARS.

Plague Maker

2011-03-27T21:33:00.001-04:00

Plague Maker by Tim Downs

July Fourth: New York City

Hundreds of thousands line the banks of the East and Hudson Rivers awaiting the nation’s largest fireworks display. Soon the sky will explode in cascading showers of silver and gold. Everywhere, faces will turn skyward in wide-eyed wonder.

Then the sky will grow dark again—but it will not be empty. The air will be filled with clouds of smoke and specks of debris will rain down everywhere. Some will pick bits of paper from their children’s hair. Some will brush away still-burning sparks or embers. And some will absentmindedly scratch at the tiny, biting specks that dot their necks and arms.

Will the beginning of the show mark the beginning of the end?

That’s what FBI agent Nathan Donovan must decide. When he is forced to enlist the help of ex-wife Macy Monroe, an expert in the psychology of terrorism, the fireworks really begin—but she may be the only one who can help him stop the Plague Maker in time.

--Plague Maker by Tim Downs, Copyright ©2006 by Tim Downs, published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers

My Review

The story begins with our troubled hero, Nathan Donovan, FBI Agent and loose cannon, having a bad dream and then speaking with a psychiatrist about his “issues.” Take the scenes for what they’re supposed to be, a peek into our protagonist’s state of mind, then we can get started with the story.

Donovan is called to the scene of a murder. It normally wouldn’t be under the realm of an FBI Agent, more like the NYPD, but Donovan is part of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, partnered with an NYPD detective. The murder in question seems common enough, but it’s the presence of thousands of xenopsylla cheopis, or Oriental rat fleas, that elevate the murder to terrorism status. You see, the Oriental rat flea is not common to New York City. It also carries the bubonic plague.

When the story makes the papers, Donovan receives a call from a Mr. Lee in England. The newspaper mentioned the fleas, which caught Mr. Lee’s attention. Donovan agrees to meet with him and he’s mildly surprise to find out Mr. Lee is actually Mr. Zhong Ren Li, born in China but residing in England. Li tells Donovan, thanks to the newspaper article, he knows who’s ultimately responsible for the murder and he needs Donovan’s help to find him. It’s his life’s mission, you see, to track down Mr. Sato Matsushita. Why? Because Matsushita is the man responsible for his wife’s murder. And why is Matsushita sending fleas carrying the bubonic plague to the United States? Because it’s Matsushita’s life’s mission to pay the U.S. back for killing his little sister, Emiko, during the bombing of Hiroshima in World War II. He’s chosen the perfect day and the perfect method for extracting his revenge.

The Fourth of July fireworks display over New York City.

With the help of Dr. Macy Monroe, Nathan’s ex-wife, can the three of them find Sato Matsushita and stop him from carrying out his twisted plan of revenge?

This story is exquisitely researched with an attention to detail that really brings the story alive. I’m amazed at all the research Tim Downs must have done in order to tell the story with so much detail, and to present that information in such a way that doesn’t bore the reader. It’s not difficult to read or understand at all and the pacing is excellent. I enjoyed it so much that when I went to the Green Valley Book Fair yesterday and found another of his books, Ends of the Earth, it went into my shopping basket without hesitation. I’m not exactly sure when I’ll get to it because I have so many books to read, but hopefully it’ll be before the end of the year.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

Without Fail

2011-03-17T21:53:00.001-04:00

Without Fail by Lee Child

Only Jack Reacher stands between Vice President-elect Brook Armstrong and his would-be assassins. But that's enough, because taking out bad guys is what highly skilled ex-military policeman Reacher does best. Recruited by M.E. Froelich, new head of the Secret Service VP detail and former lover of Jack's late brother Joe, Reacher enlists the aid of former U.S. Army master sergeant Frances Neagley, who's as pretty as she is potentially deadly. But it is Reacher alone who finds significance in the hyphen in a death threat and checks out the odd oil on a fingerprint as he puts together the pieces and zeroes in on the killers who are after Armstrong.

From Library Journal, Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Copied from Amazon.com

--Without Fail by Lee Child, Copyright ©2002 by Lee Child, published by Jove Books

My Review

Without Fail is the 6th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.

It’s November and Jack Reacher has arrived in Atlantic City. He wonders to himself, “What on earth possessed me to leave warm, sunny Southern California for cold, wintry Atlantic City?” He won’t be there long, though, because a lady has a job offer for him. “Would you be willing to try and assassinate the Vice President-elect?”

Reacher’s had a number of unusual jobs since leaving the military, but this one has to take the cake. The offeror is M.E. Froelich, a Secret Service agent and the woman in charge of the team responsible for protecting Brook Armstrong, the current Vice President-elect. She doesn’t tell him, but he quickly surmises that there’s been a threat against Armstrong and she wants him to test her security team. She chose him because he came with a good recommendation. Who recommended me? he asks. Your brother Joe. Seems Froelich was a former co-worker of Joe’s, and a former lover. Reacher says he’ll do it and that he’ll be in touch in ten days.

Five days later, he and Froelich meet again, where Reacher and his partner for this assignment, former Army Sergeant Frances Neagley, tell her they had Armstrong in their kill-sight three definite times and one maybe. She finally breaks down and tells him what’s going on. Armstrong has received several threats against his life. They were credible enough that Froelich wanted to test her security team. Thanks to them, they failed. Will Reacher and Neagley please help her find out who’s behind the threats?

They agree and begin to investigate. Their search quickly focuses in on the office cleaning crew since they had to be the ones to plant one of the threats in Froelich’s boss’s office. But they aren’t talking.

While Reacher and Neagley work on the mystery, Froelich must continue to protect Armstrong as he goes about his pre-inauguration duties. One of those duties, unfortunately, turns deadly. Now Reacher’s mission is personal, and when that happens, there can be only one outcome.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I am listening to every single Lee Child book written (in order, of course). I became intrigued by this mysterious drifter named Jack Reacher and his creator, Lee Child, a little more than a year ago but it wasn’t until I got a free e-book copy of One Shot that I finally read one of the stories. To say I fell in love with Jack Reacher at that point is a bit of an exaggeration, but not too far from the truth. I went about collecting all of the stories in the series in audio and decided to start listening to them this year. I usually listen while I’m working out and find it’s a great way to focus on something other than the agony the evil elliptical and the suicide stair machine cause—seriously, my trainer told me today he wants me to “walk up the stairs at a comfortable pace” for ten-plus minutes. And I’m paying him for the pleasure of this torture?

But I digress.

IMHO, Jack Reacher is one of the greatest heroes ever created and if I wasn’t before, I am now in love with this man. Lee Child is now firmly in the Number 2 spot of my favorite Mystery/Thriller writer’s list. But the more I read (listen), the more he’s gaining on the Number 1 spot.

Creepers

2011-03-12T00:29:00.001-05:00

Creepers by David Morrell

The Darkest Secrets Live…

On a cold October night, five people gather in a run-down motel on the Jersey shore and prepare to break into the Paragon Hotel. The once-magnificent structure is now boarded up and marked for demolition.

They are “creepers”: urban explorers with a passion for investigating abandoned buildings and their dying secrets. Reporter Frank Balenger joins them to profile this highly illegal activity for the New York Times. But he isn’t looking for just another story, and soon after they enter the rat-infested tunnel leading to the hotel, he gets more than he bargained for. Danger, fear and death await the creepers in a place ravaged by time and redolent of evil.

…In Places You’re Not Supposed To Be.

--Creepers by David Morrell, Copyright ©2005 by Morrell Enterprises, Inc. published by CDS Books

My Review

The first David Morrell book I read was The Brotherhood of the Rose back in 1985 and I’ve loved his writing for many years afterward. I haven’t read all of his books and in fact, haven’t picked up anything of his for several years. When I stumbled across this book at the store, I had to grab it. One, because I hadn’t read Morrell in several years and two, the subject matter.

T.L. Hines’ The Unseen was my first fictional exposure to urban explorers. I enjoyed that book tremendously and was looking forward to another author’s take on the subject. This isn’t just a story of a group of explorers that stumble onto a mystery in an abandoned luxury hotel. It’s a story of a group of explorers with secrets, meeting others with agendas, meeting others with more secrets, and wondering who will win in the end.

The story starts out innocently enough. Professor Robert Conklin invites New York Times reporter Frank Balenger on an exploration with three of his former students, Cora, Rick and Vinnie. They’re going to check out the Paragon Hotel in Asbury Park on the Jersey shore. Built in 1901, it was abandoned in the early 1970s when its owner died. Now it’s slated for demolition and now would be their only chance to explore this magnificent art deco structure.

The only safe way into the hotel is through the sewers. They make their way through the rat-infested tunnels, finding some interesting animal mutations along the way. Once inside the hotel, they begin their exploration, learning what they can about previous tenants and the mysterious owner, Morgan Carlisle.

But they’re not the only ones exploring the Paragon. A group of thieves, eager to make a quick score, have found their own way inside, and they’re interested in whatever treasures the professor might know about. And it seems he knows a lot…the professor has secrets that he reluctantly shares with the others. Frank, too, has his secrets, and they come out as well. Following the professor’s information, they uncover a treasure in gold…and a terrified woman who had been held captive in the hotel for several months. Her captor is Morgan Carlisle’s son, she says. Impossible, says the professor. He had no children. Then who is her captor? And what connection does and the captor have to Frank’s missing wife, Diane?

Everyone has secrets, and everyone’s playing for keeps. Question is, who will be alive at the end? And who will be sane?

I give this story THREE STARS.

Echo Burning

2011-03-08T14:13:00.001-05:00

Echo Burning by Lee Child

Jack Reacher, the vagabond freelance lawman who never hesitates to stick his nose into private business, takes his lively act to Texas, embroiling himself in what starts as a messy domestic dispute before turning far more ominous. The rugged former army cop comes to the aid of Carmen Greer, who picks him up on the side of the road one morning outside Lubbock, then asks him to kill her abusive husband. Sloop Greer is getting out of prison in a few days, and Carmen fears he will start beating her again. Reacher declines, but agrees to protect Carmen, hiring on as a cowhand at the couple's remote ranch in Echo County, Tex., far outside Pecos. Within hours of Sloop's return from prison, where he was serving time for tax evasion, violence strikes. But the victim isn't Carmen; it's Sloop. He's found shot dead, and Carmen is arrested. End of story? Hardly. Most wandering heroes would move on at this point, but not Reacher. He begins taking a hard look at both Carmen and Sloop's past, as well as local history. What he finds—ugly secrets, human suffering, political evil—is repulsive to a man who's been around as many blocks as Reacher.
From Publishers Weekly, Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Copied from Amazon.com

Echo Burning is the 5th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.

Jack Reacher is in a hurry to get out of Lubbock, Texas. Seems the nose he broke last night at a bar belongs to a local cop. When the cop arrives at the motel with three of his fellow officers, Reacher ducks out the back window and sticks out his thumb. Luck is on his side when he’s picked up within minutes by Carmen Greer.

Carmen is heading to her home in Echo, just south of Pecos. Carmen paints a pretty nice picture of Pecos, so Reacher decides that should be his next stop before continuing on to…anywhere. But Carmen has a story, and she tells Reacher all about her youth and the abusive man she married. He feels for her, but what can he do? Kill him for me, she answers. He’s in jail and will be released in a couple days.

Of course Reacher refuses, but having worked with abuse victims in the Army, he can sense that Carmen’s telling the truth and needs help. He agrees to be hired on as a ranch hand until he can figure out what to do to help her and her daughter, Ellie, out of their situation.

Before he can settle on a plan, Carmen’s husband is released a day earlier than planned. Now Carmen is trapped. But then, almost as quickly, the trap is sprung and Carmen is arrested for killing her husband. Reacher doesn’t believe she really did it, but the proof is pretty damning. He hires Alice Aaron, a local pro-bono lawyer and together they work to put all the pieces together. They have to work quickly, because even though it looks like Carmen shot her husband, she didn’t, and Reacher is next on the killer’s list.

I had a few issues with the previous story in the series (click here
for that review). Child has definitely redeemed himself in my eyes with this one.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

Obsessed

2011-03-06T00:51:00.000-05:00

Obsessed by Ted Dekker

A deadly tale of ultimate obsession

Stephen Friedman is making a good living in good times. He’s just an ordinary guy.

Or so he thinks.

But one day an extraordinary piece of information tells him differently. It’s a clue from the grave of a Holocaust survivor. A clue that makes him heir to an incredible fortune…a clue that only he and one other man can possibly understand.

That man is Roth Braun, a serial killer who has been waiting for Stephen for thirty years. Roth was stopped once before. This time, nothing will get in his way.

(Although this story was published in 2005, its story line bounces back and forth between 1973 and 1944-1945.)

Rachel Spritzer, a Holocaust survivor, stole a piece of history from her camp’s commandant. She emigrated to the United States, settling in the city of Los Angeles while she searched for the son she birthed and was forced to give up while in the camp. Little did she know that her son, whom she’d named David, lived in the exact same city.

Stephen Friedman had always known he was adopted from a Russian orphanage shortly after the end of World War II. He and his adopted family moved to the United States when he was still very young and Stephen fully embraced his new American home and lifestyle. He’s thirty now, a real estate investor with no clue that his life was about to be turned upside down because of Rachel Spritzer’s death.

Discovering that Rachel may have been his mother sends Stephen on a voyage of discovery about his past, a past he had no idea about, and a quest for his future, where he becomes obsessed about finding a biblical treasure, and the woman destined to be his other half.

But Stephen is not the only one on the hunt for the biblical treasure. Roth Braun is the son of the commandant from whom Rachel stole the treasure and he will do anything…anything…to reclaim the lost piece of his father’s spoils of war.

While intriguing, this story does not contain the frenetic intensity that I’ve come to associate with a Ted Dekker story. Too much of the story is spent on Stephen’s preoccupation with gaining access into Rachel Spritzer’s apartment building to search for the clues to the treasure and not enough on Stephen finding out about his heritage. Forgive me, I’m the daughter of a genealogist and I would find the hunt for the past to be more interesting than spending nearly half of a 382 page book trying to gain access to a building. The vignettes into the past, describing Rachel’s life in the concentration camp were well done and added depth to the story, and I found myself enjoying those more than the “present day” scenes.

If you have an interest in the Holocaust and biblical treasures, you might enjoy this story.

I give this story TWO STARS.

Infinity: Chronicles of Nick

2011-02-27T23:25:00.002-05:00

Infinity: Chronicles of Nick by Sherrilyn Kenyon

At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, Nick and his quick sarcasm are the stuff of legend…until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil covering a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.
But before Nick can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh-eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn’t hard enough, now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

I have to admit, when I first started reading this novel, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve loved Nick practically since the beginning of the Dark Hunters series and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know all the details of Nick’s teen years. I felt I knew enough and I like a little mystery in my men. But when I realized the series would also give me more background on some of the Dark Hunter characters, I decided to give it a go.

Nick is your average 14 year old high schooler…if your average high schooler is from the wrong side of the tracks, being raised by a single mother, dad’s in prison—where he can stay, thank you very much—going to an expensive private school on a scholarship where he risks getting beaten up and/or insulted in some form or another practically on a daily basis.

But life at this average high school is about to become decidedly un-average when a student is attacked on school grounds by a zombie. Nick’s life is changed when his eyes are opened to a world he never knew existed in his own back yard.

And…um…I’m not sure what else to say. Yeah, a whole lot of things happen. Nick finds out that the zombies his friends Bubba and Mark were always talking about are real, there are vampires and werewolves running around the city and the people he always thought were just a little bit crazy turned out to be completely sane. And he needs to trust them, otherwise he just might go a little insane himself.

I was all set to tear into a huge, deep gaping chasm of a mistake in this story when Kenyon managed to redeem herself toward the end of Chapter 13. You see, I’ve read all the stories in Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series and I know when Nick meets Simi for the first time and how that meeting impacts their futures. Now in Infinity, Nick’s meeting her for the first time at age 14. How can he meet her for the first time in his late 20s if he meets her at 14? Big, huge, deep gaping chasm of a mistake…right? But, as I said, Kenyon redeems herself, and very nicely too, and explains away the error, because it’s not an error. Get it? No? Read the book and you will. Pay special attention to Ambrose’s words in Chapter 13.

Infinity: Chronicle of Nick was written for the Young Adult audience, so if you’re expecting the same, ahem, action as in the Dark Hunter novels, you’ll be disappointed. Nick’s a teenager, and while he notices girls, nothing more happens than a quick little kiss. Just one. But it’s a fun story and a great introduction to the life of one of the most interesting of all the Dark Hunter characters.

I give this story THREE STARS.

Running Blind

2011-02-27T00:03:00.001-05:00

Running Blind by Lee Child

Soldier-turned-soldier-of-fortune Jack Reacher goes after a serial killer in a conventionally but nonetheless deeply satisfying whodunit. In today's armed services, you lose even when you win--at least if you're a woman who files a sexual harassment complaint. Amy Callan and Caroline Cooke were both successful in their suits, which ended the careers of their alleged harassers. But Callan and Cooke ended up leaving the service themselves, and now they're both dead, murdered by a diabolical perp who keeps leaving behind the same crime scene--the victim's body submerged in a bathtub filled with camouflage paint--and not a single clue to the killer's identity or the cause of death. The FBI hauls in Reacher, who handled both women's complaints as an Army MP, as a prime suspect, then offers to upgrade him to a consulting investigator when their own surveillance gives him an alibi for a third killing. No thanks, says our hero, who's taken an instant dislike to FBI profiler Julia Lamarr, until the Feds' threats against his lawyer girlfriend Jodie Jacob bring him into the fold. While Reacher is pretending to study lists of potential victims and suspects and fending off the government-sponsored advances of Quantico's comely Lisa Harper, the murderer is getting ready to pounce on a fourth victim: Lamarr's stepsister Alison. This latest coup does nothing to improve relations between Reacher and the Feebees, all of them determined to prove they're the toughest hombres in the parking lot, but it does set the stage for some honest sleuthing, some treacherous red herrings, and some convincing evidence for Reacher's assertion that all that profiling stuff is just plain common sense. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Copied fromAmazon.com

Where do I begin?

First things first…another fabulous story.

After living in one place for three months, Jack Reacher has itchy feet. He tries to quell them with regular trips into New York City to be with Jodie, but it’s not the same. For a man who’s used to being on the move with little more than a toothbrush and the clothes on his back, being anchored to one place and struggling with the burdens of property do not sit well with him.

One evening in the city, he gets himself involved in a minor act of vigilantism against one of New York City’s many “protection” gangs that, under normal circumstances, would barely get a rise out of the NYPD (I’m guessing). But the act is witnessed by two FBI agents, agents that have him under surveillance because he fits the profile of a potential serial killer. So in trying to help out the owner of a restaurant he’s come to enjoy, he gets arrested by the FBI. They’re willing to drop the charges, however, if he’ll agree to help them hunt this killer.

Reacher says no.

Two victims so far, they tell him. Former Army soldiers, victims of sexual assault. They had successfully pressed charges against their abusers and then subsequently left the military. Reacher had met them both while working as an investigator for the Military Police. In fact, he’d met a number of the women on the list the FBI had gotten from the Army. Help us get this killer before he kills more of these women, they say to Reacher.

Reacher says no again.

You knew he would.

The strong-armed tactics the FBI employs to get his cooperation may work with most people, but not with Reacher. He thinks about a dozen steps ahead of everyone else and before they can haul him off to Quantico, he lays down a bit of groundwork. See, they made the mistake of threatening Jodie (the love of his life, from Tripwire, saying they would let that “protection” gang know about his interference and how they could get revenge on him through her. That was their first mistake and because he’s smarter than them, he’s able to remove the threat without seeming to raising a finger (it’s awesome, by the way, how he’s able to do it!).

With the threat removed, Reacher walks away, literally. He walks out of the building and off the FBI compound at Quantico. He realizes he’s enjoyed the past couple days, moving about between NYC and DC and doing something besides worry about property taxes, insurance, home maintenance, getting a job and having to mow the damned lawn. Again. Once back in New York, however, the FBI is waiting for him. The killer, who had been killing once every three weeks, has upped the interval, and he’s killed the step-sister of one of the FBI Agents involved on the case. Now Reacher has no choice but to get involved. Before, he was playing with the FBI, not wanting to get involved but enjoying his involvement nonetheless. Now playtime is over and it’s time to get serious. And when Jack Reacher gets serious, the bad guys had better watch out.

Okay, okay, a bit cliché’d, but I like it!

As much as I enjoyed this story, I had a couple problems with it.

One, at the beginning of Chapter 13, it’s Sunday morning and Reacher walks into the FBI cafeteria. On the table is coffee, a basket of Danish and doughnuts and the Sunday papers: the Washington Post, USA Today and the New York Times. The problem? USA Today doesn’t have a Sunday edition. They’ve never had one. Not now, not ever.

Two is the way Child portrays the FBI investigators as idiots. Reacher had to keep pointing Agent Blake (the agent in charge of the investigation) and the others in the right direction, telling them what to do next. For example, once they discovered the significance of the delivery box in murder victim #4’s barn, they should have automatically backtracked to the previous three victims to see if they had similar delivery boxes. They did, but only after Reacher told them to. He also had to tell them to check with the other potential victims to warn them about a delivery box. Once the box became significant, even I knew what needed to be done. The agents should have known as well without Reacher telling them. This is the FBI, for Pete’s sake. They should know how to conduct an investigation. Did their ability to free-think disappear once they finished their elite training? Also, why would they keep the relative of one of the potential victims on their team? She should have been removed the moment the connection was made, no matter how good her track record was. But they stubbornly kept her on.

I can accept sticking to the tried and true, but when it’s obvious something needs to be done, and you don’t do it, you cross the line from stubbornness to stupidity.

Third—and this is the biggie to me—the killer uses hypnosis to control the victims, to the point where they actually have a hand in their demise. I have to call foul on this one. You can do a lot of things with hypnosis, but you cannot make someone do something contrary to their nature. If you’re a natural exhibitionist, maybe you could be hypnotized to walk down your town’s Main Street naked, but for us shyer types, uh-uh, no go. If you have no desire to smoke, you cannot be hypnotized to suddenly light one up. It won’t happen. This myth was debunked on TV by The Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters (episode “Voice Flame Extinguisher,” originally aired April 11, 2007) and of course, there are thousands of links on the Internet that support this.

The desire for self preservation is one of the strongest instincts we humans have and, knowing all this, I don’t buy the killer’s method actually working. The Motive and Means are top-notch and well plotted, but the Method fails.

I give this story THREE AND A HALF STARS.

The Closers

2011-02-21T20:31:00.001-05:00

The Closers by Michael Connelly

He walked away from the job three years ago. But Harry Bosch cannot resist the call to join the elite Open/Unsolved Unit. His mission: solve murders whose investigations were flawed, stalled, or abandoned to L.A.’s tides of crime. With some people openly rooting for his failure, Harry catches the case of a teenager dragged off to her death on Oat Mountain, and traces the DNA on the murder weapon to a small-time criminal. But something bigger and darker beckons, and Harry must battle to fit all the pieces together. Shaking cages and rattling ghosts, he will push the rules to the limit—and expose the kind of truth that shatters lives, ends careers, and keeps the dead whispering in the night…

After three years of doing his own thing, Harry Bosch is rejoining the Los Angeles Police Department, working with his old partner, Kizmin Rider, in the Open/Unsolved Unit. (Ever watch Cold Case? Then you’ve got the idea.) While some people are happy to see Harry back on the job, some people are not, and they let him know it. Harry doesn’t let it bother him, though. He’s just happy to be working again.

The first case Harry and Kiz pick up is the unsolved murder of a sixteen year old teenager, Rebecca Verloren. She was taken from her bedroom in the middle of the night and shot in the woods behind her house. The gun was found on the scene. DNA on the gun, which wasn’t around at the time of the murder, hit on a known felon, Roland Mackey, but he didn’t have any noticeable ties to Becky.

But there could be a connection. Mackey was rumored to be a kind of white supremacist, and Becky was mix-raced. Could Roland’s old gang have something to do with her murder? If not them, then it was probably her boyfriend, the one she got pregnant by but never told her parents about…the boyfriend or the pregnancy.

Mackey looks good for the murder, but his DNA on the murder weapon means he had the gun in his possession, not that he killed Becky. Not enough proof. So Harry and Kiz work to find the proof. Along the way, they uncover a nasty little secret the department has been hiding, a secret that, if uncovered, could cost Harry his job barely before it’s begun.

I have several of Michael Connelly’s books, but unlike my usual procedure with series, I’m not reading these in any particular order. It does leave me slightly disoriented at times and raises some minor questions in my mind about Harry. Perhaps one day I’ll retrace my steps, find book 1 and start from there. Then my questions will be answered. Maybe...

I give this story THREE STARS.

Tripwire

2011-02-13T20:53:00.001-05:00

Tripwire by Lee Child

After spending 13 years in the military police, Jack Reacher is perfectly content to dig swimming pools by day and bounce at a Key West strip club by night. A man named Costello comes looking for him but is found dead the next day. Tracking Costello's employer takes Reacher to upstate New York and Jodie Garber Jacobs, the daughter of Jack's old commanding officer, Leon Garber. His dying request was to meet with his protege. Why Leon needed to see Jack so desperately is a mystery, but an attempt to kill Reacher and Jodie clarifies the situation. People serious enough to commit a daylight double murder want Reacher and Jodie dead. The question is why? The motive lies in a $100 million Long Island land swindle, and Reacher's opposition is wealthy, ruthless, and as cunning as Reacher.

Book 3 in the Jack Reacher series finds our hero living in Key West. He’s been there for three months, a record for him ever since the Army cut him loose. During the day he’s digging pools by hand, and at night, he works as a bouncer in a strip club. He hadn’t planned on staying that long, but something about the transient lifestyle of the area appealed to him, and so he stayed, waiting for that “itch” that tells him it’s time to move on. That “itch” comes in the form of a New York detective named Costello. His client, Mrs. Jacob, is looking for him. Reacher doesn’t know a Mrs. Jacob, tells Costello he’s not Jack Reacher and Costello moves on. Later that night, two more New York men show up at the strip club, also looking for Reacher. After dispatching them, and later finding Costello’s dead body, Reacher decides that maybe now would be a good time to move on. His destination? New York City and the mysterious Mrs. Jacob.

Once in New York, he tracks down Costello’s office and find a number for Mrs. Jacob. Her secretary gives him her address and tells him to hurry or he’ll be late. Late for what, Reacher wonders, but rather than ask, goes to the suburban address. There, he finds he’s crashing a funeral reception. The deceased is none other than General Leon Garber, Reacher’s former boss (who made an appearance in Die Trying) and mentor in the Army. And Mrs. Jacob is Garber’s daughter, Jodie, whom he remembers fondly as a skinny teenager from 15 years ago. She’s not a skinny teenager anymore. She’s a lawyer in a New York City firm with a growing reputation of brokering deals between failing companies and their creditors. Reacher’s impressed with her success, however, he finds himself thinking thoughts that he shouldn’t be thinking about the daughter of a man he admired and respected.

After everyone else has left the reception, Reacher finds himself alone with Jodie. The reason she was looking for him, she explains, is not because Leon was ill and dying, but because he had gotten involved with something and, since he was dying, he wanted to pass the task on to Reacher. But Jodie doesn’t have any details, hoping she’d be able to find Reacher in time for her father to pass the task on himself.

It’s a good thing Reacher managed to track Jodie down when he did, as the two goons he ejected from the Key West strip club have decided to pay Jodie a visit. He gets Jodie to safety, they find out who had given Garber his task, and the hunt is on.

Mr. and Mrs. Hobie lost their only son, Victor, in Vietnam. But the Army never officially declared him dead. Thirty years later, he’s still considered MIA. They simply want to know the truth about their son…thirty years is a long time to hold on to hope. Garber agreed to help and started the ball rolling. Now Reacher needs to pick it up and see where it takes him.

Meanwhile, in New York City, Chester Stone, the third generation owner of a family business, is in trouble. He needs $1.1 million dollars to cover operating costs for the next six weeks, but the money isn’t there. He and his CFO juggle and recalculate, but it’s like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Finally, the CFO says he knows about a guy who makes loans to businesses in their sort of situation. Stone makes the appointment and the next day pays a visit to “Hook” Hobie, so named because instead of a prosthetic right hand, he sports a lethal-looking silver hook. Hobie agrees to lend him the money, in exchange for an equity position in the company and 6% interest for the six weeks. Stone agrees, the deal is signed, and the money transferred. Stone breathes a sigh of relief, believing his worries are over.

But they’re only beginning. Hobie puts his newly acquired stock on the market, sinking the value of the company in an instant. Now Stone owes $17 million and has no way to repay. But Hobie has a payment plan. He wants everything. Every Thing Stone owns down to the very clothes on his back. Oh, and a sweet piece of property on the beaches of Long Island Sound. All Hobie needs to do is demonstrate to Stone in no uncertain terms that he holds all the power. He’ll have it all. All he needs is Stone’s signature. And that of a certain female New York City lawyer with a reputation of brokering such deals.

Little does “Hook” Hobie know that Reacher and Jodie are looking for him, too. And Reacher always finds what he’s looking for.

There are some minor unanswered questions, such as what happened to Stone and his wife (I didn’t mention the part she plays in the story, but she is important) at the end. I suppose it’s logical to assume they picked up the pieces, repaired or dissolved the company, and got on with their lives. There’s also the question of the exact nature of Hobie’s relationship with one of his assistants, Tony. I don’t think they had a “relationship” (wink wink nudge nudge), but Tony obviously knows the truth about Hobie and cares a great deal for the man, much more than a superior/assistant business relationship. But the origin of that relationship is unknown and leaves me wondering.

But anyway, I am so loving this series! Jack Reacher is my new hero. You can have The Dark Knight, the kids from Heroes and any other pop culture hero out there (okay, the kids from Heroes are a bit passé, but you get my point). I’ll take Jack Reacher. Oh, and Lee Child. This guy really knows how to create a deeply layered psychological thriller. I was going to take a break from this series after the first two or three books, but now I’m itching to get started on Book 4, Running Blind.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

Promises in the Dark

2011-02-07T22:08:00.001-05:00

Promises In The Dark by Stephanie Tyler

On the run, in each other’s arms, with one last chance to survive…

A rugged Navy SEAL, Zane Scott was part of a failed mission to rescue Dr. Olivia Strohm from abduction by the terrorist group Dead Man’s Hand—and her anguished screams have haunted him ever since. So when he gets word that the beautiful physician has escaped from her captors in Africa, he’s got personal reasons to storm the continent and save her.

Like her would-be liberator, Olivia carries the burden of a dark secret from her past. Ruthless and relentless, the DMH has threatened to hunt her down—and to systematically hurt anyone she’s close to. The last thing she wants is to be rescued—even by someone as shockingly handsome as Zane. Yet the hotheaded special ops hero has come for her, and together she and Zane just might have a shot at not only stopping DMH’s reign of terror, but also saving what’s left of their souls.

The continuation of Lie With Me, Promises in the Dark continues the story of the Scott brothers, focusing on Zane and Caleb (but mostly Zane). Inexplicably drawn to Dr. Olivia Strohm, he searches for her for six long months after she was kidnapped by international terrorist group DMH. She’s managed to escape her captors and disappear into the African desert. Zane tracks her down, though, and to get her back to the States, he must get her to Freetown, a coastal African that holds too many memories for Zane.

Meanwhile, brother Cael has taken on babysitter duties as he rescues Vivianna Clare, the daughter of a master computer programmer—and a pretty darned good programmer in her own right—before DMH can get their hands on her. Her father wrote a program vital to the nation’s security and DMH has stolen a copy. Now DMH and Vivi are in a race to find the only flaw in the program. DMH wants to exploit it and Vivi wants to fix it. Who’s going to win this race?

I give this story THREE STARS.

Die Trying

2011-02-01T00:58:00.001-05:00

Die Trying by Lee Child

Jack Reacher is in both the wrong and the right place at the same time when FBI Special Agent and daughter of the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Holly Johnson is abducted from a Chicago street. It is the wrong place because Reacher, a former army major drifting around the country, is kidnapped as well. It is the right place because only he has the instincts to foil the complex, deadly plan of the kidnappers, a Montana militia group headed by a charismatic, brilliant, but psychotic leader.

Die Trying is the 2nd book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. It’s the end of June, less than a week before Independence Day, and Jack Reacher is strolling down the city streets of Chicago. He bumps into a young woman coming out of a dry cleaners, balancing an armful of clothing in one hand and a crutch with the other. As he helps her regain her balance, two armed men appear and force them into a car. They’re driven to another location, handcuffed together, and tossed into the back of a van. As the minutes stretch into hours, Jack and his companion, who introduces herself as FBI Agent Holly Johnson, get to know each other.

Meanwhile, in the almost-abandoned mining town of York, Montana, Beau Borkin and his militia followers have taken up residence. A special room has been constructed for their prisoner in the town’s courthouse building. But when the van returns, minus one of the kidnap team and with an additional prisoner, Borkin adjusts his plans and decides on a way to use his additional prisoner.

Back in Chicago, Holly’s co-workers have retraced her steps and have the surveillance footage from the dry cleaners. The two gunmen and the car’s driver are easily identified as compatriots of Beau Borkin, but the fourth man, the tall one holding Holly’s arm, is harder to I.D. Eventually, they get one from the military—Major Jack Reacher, highly decorated, former military police investigator, released from the Army a year earlier.

Jack Reacher and the other kidnappers are now their number one priority. But there’s a traitor on the FBI team, someone who is feeding information to Borkin and his militia. Borkin is determined to declare York County, Montana as a new country, free from the tyranny of the United States, and he’s going to declare his country’s independence on July 4th. Can Jack and Holly find a way to stop Borkin and his people before they stage their own explosive July 4 fireworks?

I give this story FOUR STARS.

Lie With Me

2011-01-19T12:37:00.002-05:00

Lie With Me by Stephanie Tyler

Forced together by fate, bound together by desire…

Framed for a double murder, Delta Force operative Cameron Moore is given a new lease on life by the CIA—provided he pays them back by doing their black ops dirty work. But now Cam is ready to renegotiate the deal, and he thinks he’s found the perfect bargaining chip: Skylar Slavin, bestselling author of espionage thrillers and the daughter of the CIA man who saved Cam from a prison sentence.

Skylar has been living in anonymity, never suspecting that someone so dangerous—and so desirable—would plunge her into a world as treacherous as one of her spy novels. But how can Cam go through with his plan to kidnap Skylar when just the sight of her sets off an explosive attraction he’s never experienced before? And when Skylar falls prey to an even more perilous threat, this special ops soldier must call upon all his combat skills to protect the one person who can help him win his freedom—and the only woman he’s ever loved.

Lie With Me is an elaborately constructed, multi-layered story that hits the ground running and never lets up until the very end. (I hate to use such obvious clichés, but I couldn’t think of any other way to say it.) After eleven long years, Cameron Moore is finally free from his obligation to CIA handler, Gabriel Creighton. At least, that’s what he thought, until he finds himself being followed by a stealth helicopter. Climbing aboard, he finds his handler’s usual messenger, but what’s unusual is the handgun the man is holding. Wanting only to be free of Creighton’s hold, he kills the messenger… literally…and heads for the home of his friend, Dylan Scott.

With Dylan’s help, Cam devises a scheme to finally rid himself of Gabriel Creighton. The man has a daughter, Skylar Slavin. The public knows nothing about their relationship, a necessary step to keep Skylar safe, but now Cam knows, and he’s determined to use her to get Creighton off his back forever. What he didn’t count on was the immediate attraction he would feel for her.

Skylar feels it too, and when the power goes out, they give in to the inevitable force pulling them together. Believing Cam was sent by her father to protect her, she puts her trust in him. And when a group of kidnappers arrive to grab Skylar, they’re forced to go on the run.

To add to the already complicated situation, Cam finds out—through Dylan—that it’s believed Creighton was kidnapped by Dead Man’s Hand, a terrorist group based in Morocco, and they want to use Skylar—in rather unpleasant ways—to get information out of him. Cam must rely on his training and his cunning to free Creighton from DMH and to keep Skylar safe and alive.

I give this story THREE AND A HALF STARS.

Killing Floor

2011-01-15T22:57:00.001-05:00

Killing Floor by Lee Child
A Jack Reacher novel, Book #1

Welcome to Margrave, Georgia--but don't get too attached to the townsfolk, who are either in on a giant conspiracy, or hurtling toward violent deaths, or both. There's not much of a welcome for Jack Reacher, a casualty of the Army's peace dividend, who's drifted into town idly looking for traces of a long-dead black jazzman. Not only do the local cops arrest him for murder, but the chief of police turns eyewitness to place him on the scene, even though Reacher was getting on a bus in Tampa at the time. Two surprises follow: The murdered man wasn't the only victim, and he was Reacher's brother Joe, whom he hadn't seen in seven years. So Reacher, who so far hasn't had anything personally against the crooks who set him up for a weekend in the state pen at Warburton, clicks into overdrive. Banking on the help of the only two people in Margrave he can trust--a Harvard-educated chief of detectives who hasn't been on the job long enough to be on the take, and a smart, scrappy officer who's taken him to her bed--he sets out methodically in his brother's footsteps, trying to figure out why his cellmate in Warburton, a panicky banker whose cell-phone number turned up in Joe's shoe, confessed to a murder he obviously didn't commit; trying to figure out why all the out-of- towners on Joe's list of recent contacts were as dead as he was; and trying to stop the local carnage, or at least direct it in more positive ways. Kirkus Reviews, copied from Amazon.com.

Gee, I don’t know what more I can add to the above! But let’s see what I can do.

Jack Reacher is a man disconnected from society. After thirteen years in the Army—and an entire childhood as an always-traveling Army brat—he’s been “riffed” from the only life he’d ever known. Now he’s finding peace in drifting through the country, stopping whenever the whim strikes and picking back up again whenever he feels like. On his way from Tampa northward, he makes an impulsive stop at Margrave, Georgia. It’s an impulse he regrets when, halfway through breakfast at a diner, he’s arrested for murder.

Jack makes it clear that once his alibi is verified and the charges are dropped, he’s leaving Margrave. Gone. History. You won’t see him except for the dust trail he’ll leave behind. He’ll walk to Atlanta if he has to, whatever it takes to get away from this weird little Southern town. Until he finds out the man he’s accused of murdering is his brother Joe. Now Jack’s staying, and with the help of Margrave’s Harvard-educated-formerly-of-Boston detective and the attractive cop who happily lets him into her bed, he’s going to find out exactly what Joe was doing in Margrave and why it got him killed.

Hmpf…I think I like Kirkus’s review better than mine…

This is Lee Child’s first “Jack Reacher” novel, originally published in 1997. It is an intricately woven story, with threads and tendrils dangling here and there and only someone with the skill and training of a master weaver (or an Army trained killer and investigator) can tie them all together. Jack Reacher is that man, and if you like well-thought-out well-planned thrillers, you’ll enjoy this book.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

My plan this year is to listen to all of the books in the Jack Reacher series except One Shot which I read last year. Reacher is a great character and I hope to enjoy him more and more as the year progresses.

Ruthless Game

2011-01-10T23:09:00.003-05:00

Ruthless Games by Christine Feehan

GhostWalker Kane Cannon is pure male—animalistic, sexual, protective, instinctive—and his past missions have prepared him for anything. But his newest assignment, to rescue hostages in Mexico, plunges him into a hot zone he never anticipated: the hiding place of Rose Patterson—a fugitive, an ex-lover, a fellow GhostWalker pregnant with his child.

Rose is in flight from the insidious experiments that still haunt her dreams, and from the madman who’d do anything to take her child. Of all the GhostWalkers enlisted to hunt her down, Kane is the only one she can trust. But as their passion reignites, the stakes are raised. Because Kane is now a wanted man as well. And together they’re about to face the most difficult challenge of all: staying together and staying alive.

Rose Patterson is pregnant and on the run. The small Mexican town seems to offer exactly what she’s looking for, anonymity with the “protection” of a local drug lord. But when members of the cartel kidnap an innocent mother and daughter, she has to do something. Unfortunately, the people she contacted for help sent in the GhostWalkers and one of them is Kane Cannon, the father of her unborn child.

When Kane discovers Rose is their contact, he’s determined to rescue her along with the hostages. But Rose refuses to get on the rescue chopper without him, and together, they go on the run into the desert. She has a hiding place and there Rose and Kane bring their child into the world.

The peace they find with each other and their son is short-lived, however. They’re under surveillance—though not by the cartel, but by their shared nemesis, Dr. Peter Whitney—and they must find a way to get past their observers and onto their rescue chopper without getting caught.

They make it safely to San Francisco, but their safety is only an illusion. The cartel has placed a million dollar price tag on her head and Dr. Whitney will do anything to get Rose—and more importantly, baby Sebastian—back under his control. But with a traitor within their midst, can Kane and the GhostWalkers keep Rose and Sebastian safe, weed out the traitor, defeat Whitney and end the cartel’s threat?

I give this story THREE AND A HALF STARS.

Blood Ties

2011-01-04T00:38:00.001-05:00

Blood Ties by Kay Hooper

A series of grisly murders has left a trail of blood across three states, bringing the Special Crimes Unit to a small Tennessee town. There, two more brutal killings lure Noah Bishop and the SCU into what may be the ultimate trap, and lead Special Agent Hollis Templeton into a dangerous attraction—and a serial murder investigation that turns very, very personal. In her time with the SCU, Hollis has shown an uncanny ability to survive even the deadliest attacks. But what she can’t know is that this killer intends to destroy the team from within. As the body count climbs, and Bishop and his agents race to uncover the true identity of their enemy, not even their special senses can warn them just how bloody, and how terrifyingly close, the truth will be.

Blood Ties picks up a few months after Blood Sins in the town of Serenade, TN. The Reverend Adam Deacon Samuel may be dead, but his reach goes far beyond the grave. He was a prophet after all, and a madman with a mission. He knew his death was imminent and, like all good madmen, made the appropriate arrangements.

The SCU team, headed by Miranda Bishop, is sent to the town of Serenade to investigate an unusual murder. While there, they stumble across another body, and almost become victims themselves when a sniper starts shooting at them. After researching the two victims, they discover they’re both linked to past SCU cases. The SCU has an enemy, and it seems that enemy is drawing all the agents together in one spot, determined to destroy the unit once and for all.

But who is the enemy? And why is he so determined to bring down the SCU and Noah Bishop in particular? And just how far will he go to achieve his goal?

Pretty short review, especially for the first finished book of the new year, but I can’t say any more without saying a lot more, and if I said a lot more, I might as well tell you the entire story. And where’s the fun in that?

In my review of the previous story, Blood Ties, I mentioned that it was not a stand-alone read, that you needed the previous “Blood” book to understand that one. Well, you need both of those to understand this one. It’s an excellent series with very intricate, delicate connections that must be read to be understood. There are a lot of details and you really do have to pay attention (the previously mentioned flowchart wouldn’t hurt), but in the end, it’s all worth it.

And if you think long and hard about the title of this story, you’ll realize “the truth underneath it all.” I did, and I knew the answer to the biggest secret long before anyone else in the story did, except maybe Bishop himself.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

One Year Later...

2011-01-03T09:42:00.000-05:00

...and where am I?

When I started this journey of keeping count of and reviewing all the books I read in one year, I didn’t think beyond that. Counting and reviewing everything I read in one year. I was surprised to discover it became something more.

I’m not going to sit here now and tell you my life has been changed by this endeavor, because it hasn’t. Oh, my life has changed in this year. I was unemployed in January, began studying for my new career in February, went through my new career training in March, spent April looking for a job and started my new job in my new career in May. I spent the first month in my new job as an orientee and started “soloing” in June. July, August and September went by in a blur and in October I began planning for my November NaNoWriMo project. In November, I wrote my 50,000 word novel (50,632 words to be precise) all while working full time and continuing my reading (thank you, please, hold your applause). And finally, this December, I slowed down a bit. I didn’t stop reading, but I did take a little break from the writing, took a quick trip to Connecticut to visit family and got ready for the holidays.

So now here we are at the end of the year and what have I accomplished, at least where this blog is concerned? In 2010, I read 79 books—I was hoping to make 80, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

Some statistics:

New-to-me authors: 22
Physical books: 35
Audio books: 40
e-Books: 4
New books (not re-reads): 48
Re-reads: 41

Number of Books Read By Author:
Jayne Castle – 11
Kay Hooper – 11
Nora Roberts – 11 (Only 11? Seemed like much more…)
Christine Feehan – 6
Jerry Jenkins – 3
Jayne Ann Krentz – 3
Maggie Shayne – 3
Camy Tang – 3
Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon – 2
Elizabeth Lowell – 2
Ridley Pearson – 2
Michael Robotham – 2
Phaedra Weldon – 2
Sandi Ault – 1
Richard Belzer with Michael Black – 1
Claudia Carroll – 1
Lee Child – 1
Joshua Corin – 1
Catherine Coulter – 1
Ted Dekker – 1
Darlene Gardner – 1
Kristin Hannah – 1
Robert Harris – 1
Megan Hart – 1
Tanya Huff – 1
Marshall Karp – 1
P.D. Martin – 1
Liz Maverick – 1
Amanda Quick – 1
Ray Rhamey – 1
Stuart Woods – 1

Although my reviews include four additional books, I actually read them in 2009 and transferred the reviews from my other blog, so I didn’t count them in any of these statistics, but here they are:

T.L. Hines – 1, Physical book
Laurie Channer – 1, e-Book
Rick Maydak – 1, Physical book
Shaun Jeffrey – 1, Physical book

And my final statistic, number of books started and never finished – 5.

So what do these statistics mean? I think they mean what most statistics mean…which is, not much, but I was bored and felt like counting 

What are my plans for 2011? Well, I’m not going to stop reading, and I enjoyed writing these reviews, so this blog will continue as Another Year in Reviews. I will do this with three goals in mind…resolutions, if you will:

1 – Read more books (I’m aiming for 100)
2 – Read more new books and fewer re-reads
3 – Read more new-to-me authors

I think #3 is what I enjoyed most about last year. Some new-to-me authors weren’t worth the time (those five unfinished books), but I read a number of new-to-me authors that I really liked—Marshall Karp, Joshua Corin, Lee Child, Maggie Shayne, Phaedra Weldon and Ridley Pearson top that list (in no particular order).

I’m still looking for recommendations, so if you have an author you particularly like and think I might as well, please let me know about them.

All right 2011, let’s see what you’ve got!

Crimson City

2010-12-30T12:02:00.000-05:00

Crimson City by Liz Maverick

Once, this was the City of Angels. The angels are no longer in charge. From the extravagant vampire world above to the gritty defiance of the werewolves below, the specter of darkness lives around every corner, the hope of paradise in every heart. The city knows a tentative peace, but to live in Los Angeles is to balance on the edge of a knife. One woman knows better than most. She’s about to be tested, to taste true thirst. Fleur Dumont is about to meet the one man who may understand her: a tormented protector who’s lost all he loved. Theirs is one tale of many. This is Crimson City, where desire meets danger and more than just the stars come out at night.

Welcome to Crimson City, where the vampires and werewolves are not just the stuff of film and books. They’re real, and they share the city with the handful of humans brave enough to share the city with them. There’s a definite caste system, with the vampires occupying the upper strata of the city, the humans on the street level, and the werewolves living in the underground. Though the three species don’t get along, there is a tentative peace that exists over the city.

Fleur Dumont is a member of the ruling family of the vampires. She should be ruling, period, but that job was taken over by two of her half brothers, Christian and Ryan because she was not ready to rule. Because she had made a mistake, one that destroyed any respect she had among the Council members. She ready to redeem herself, but is unsure of how to approach her brothers for that opportunity. When her brothers are killed before her very eyes by a mech—a human converted to a machine—she seizes the opportunity and takes over. But is she really ready?

It takes a brave human to not only live in Crimson City, but to interact with both species. Dain Reston is just such an individual. A member of “Battlefield” Operations, it’s his job to ensure the tentative peace between the species stays. But when he and his partner, Cyd, come across the mech—something that shouldn’t exist—they know something bad is going down.

Now Dain must ally himself with the vampires, and with Fleur specifically, if he is to figure out who sent the mech after the Dumonts and what exactly that person hoped to accomplish. At the same time, he has to deal with his wild, barely-in-control partner, an overeager tabloid reporter, a boss who seems more intent on hampering than helping his mission, and his own growing attraction for Fleur Dumont.

Crimson City is the first in a series of novels. The first five were written by different authors, but numbers six and seven were written by Liz Maverick.

Being the first in a series, there’s a lot of background to present, causing the story to suffer from “too-much-information-itis.” The information is necessary to understand the world of Crimson City, but it just felt like too much of an info-dump for me. I could almost draw lines around sections and label them: here’s background on the city, now background on a character, here’s an action scene, now more information, a bit of dialogue—oops, interrupted by more information—and the rest of the dialogue and finally the end of the scene. Plus, each character had a lot of internal dialogue going. A lot. A lot a lot.

Having never ready anything else by Liz Maverick, I can’t say if this is her usual style or just the style she adopted for this series, but it makes me reluctant to read anything else by her. I will read the other novels that I have in this series (A Taste of Crimson by Marjorie M. Liu is next), but I don’t know right now if I’ll read Liz Maverick’s other entries in this series.

I give this story TWO STARS.

Blood Sins

2010-12-27T22:12:00.001-05:00

Blood Sins by Kay Hooper

Young, vulnerable, attractive, Tessa Gray looked like the perfect victim. Which was why Noah Bishop of the FBI’s Special Crimes Unit recruited the novice operative to use as bait for a killer hidden inside the Church of the Everlasting Sin–a fortified mountain compound where at least two women have already been murdered in ways that defy explanation. By entering the cult’s compound, Tessa will expose herself to the dark magnetism of its leader and his fanatically loyal followers. Once she’s inside, no one, not even Bishop or the town’s chief of police, can guarantee she’ll come out alive. And not even Tessa knows if she’s strong enough to resist the lure of a killer who is less than human.

Young widow Tessa Gray has been targeted by the Church of the Everlasting Sin—and that’s exactly what she wants. Working undercover for Noah Bishop and the FBI’s Special Crimes Unit, part of Tessa’s job is to find out why (so far) two people have been murdered, one of them an undercover member of the SCU. Sarah had been living inside the compound, gathering information and, whenever possible, smuggling out “special” children so they could no longer be used for the Reverend Samuel’s questionable purposes. Now she’s dead, her body found several miles downriver from the Church’s compound.

When the Church starts to actively recruit Tessa, she is reluctant but plays along. After all, how else is she supposed to get information that will help the SCU bust open the Church and expose the Reverend? Things get a little dicey when the local police chief, Sawyer Cavanaugh, makes his suspicions of the church obvious. Tessa must decide if she can trust Sawyer and if in doing so, can she risk exposing him to the evil that is surely a part of the Church?

A normal Kay Hooper story involves a mystery along with a romance between two of its characters. This story veers from that norm, in that there’s an attraction between Tessa and Sawyer, and that’s it. The rest of the story, say 80% or so, is all about the mystery of the Reverend Adam Deacon Samuel and his connection to Blood Dreams’ serial killer. And even when that mystery is resolved, there are still too many unanswered questions, leading to the twelfth story in the series, Blood Ties.

It’s a good story with enough action to keep the story moving, but it definitely isn’t a stand-alone read. It’s hard to fully understand what’s going on unless you’ve read Blood Dreams and if at all possible, the entire previous 10 books in the Bishop/SCU series. I have, and I’m still a little bit in the dark. Drawing a flowchart detailing all the characters and their attributes along with their varied connections probably would have helped.

I give this story THREE STARS.

Hot Mahogany

2010-12-25T21:30:00.001-05:00

Hot Mahogany by Stuart Woods

While dining one night at Elaine’s, Stone Barrington—back in Manhattan after chasing down the bad guys in the Caribbean—meets Barton Cabot, older brother of his sometime ally, CIA boss Lance Cabot. Barton’s career in army intelligence is even more top secret than his brother’s, but he’s suffering from amnesia following a random act of violence. Amnesia is a dangerous thing in a man whose memory is chockfull of state secrets, so Lance hires Stone to watch Barton’s back. As Stone discovers, Barton is a spy with a rather unusual hobby: building and restoring antique furniture. The genteel world of antiques and coin dealers at first seems a far cry from Stone’s usual underworld of mobsters, murderers, and spies. But Barton also is a man with a past, and one event in particular— in the jungles of Vietnam more than thirty years earlier— is coming back to haunt his present in ways he’d never expected. Stone soon finds out that Barton, and some shady characters of his acquaintance, may be hiding a lot more than just a few forged antiques.

Hot Mahogany is the 15th book in Stuart Woods’ Stone Barrington series. The story opens at Elaine’s, a tony New York restaurant that Stone dines at regularly. He’s surprised to see an older version of his friend, CIA director Lance Cabot, standing at the door. The situation is explained when Lance himself arrives and speaks to Stone quietly. The other man is his older brother, Barton, whom Lance himself hasn’t seen for many years. Barton is suffering a mild case of amnesia…could Stone look after him for a day or two while Lance takes care of a very important, very classified situation overseas? Of course, Stone agrees and Lance departs, leaving Barton in Stone’s very capable hands.

Using his police contacts, Stone is able to find out where Barton lives. As luck would have it, Barton’s home is not far from Stone’s second home in Washington, CT. The next morning, Barton is feeling much more like himself. His memory hasn’t fully returned, but he feels well enough, so Stone drives him home. Barton shows Stone around his home, including the barn where he works as a furniture builder and restorer. But Barton isn’t just an ordinary carpenter. He’s an expert at reproducing antique American furniture. His work is so good, noted furniture experts can’t tell the difference between his work and the original.
He shows Stone a piece he keeps hidden in his workshop, a mahogany secretary made in the 18th century by Goddard and Townsend, a Colonial American furniture maker. The problem is, he’s unsure if the secretary in his barn is the original or the copy. The other is in his van, which was stolen the night of the accident that caused his amnesia. Barton asks Stone to help him locate his stolen van so he can recover his missing secretary. Stone agrees to help.

But there’s more to this tale than just a missing piece of furniture. Becoming an expert furniture reproducer takes not only talent, but money. And Barton has money. Lots of money. What exactly are the origins of Barton’s wealth? What happened to his promising career as a U.S. Marine during the Viet Nam war? Why did he disappear from his brother’s life more than 20 years ago and stay “missing” all those years? Who was responsible for his “accident” and his stolen van? Is the original or the reproduction secretary lost along with the van or is the piece about to make an appearance on the auction circuit, where it could fetch as much as 25 million dollars? And how does Stone’s technical go-to guy, Bob Kantor, connect to Barton Cabot?

As if solving those mysteries wasn’t enough to keep Stone busy, there’s also his ever complicated love life. A former lover of his, Eliza, is set to walk down the aisle shortly, a feat Stone is sure is only a ploy to get his attention, while he begins to date one woman with a volatile soon-to-be ex, and then another who appears to be more his type of woman. No woman manages to stay in his life for long, but will Tatiana prove to be the exception to the rule?

I love Stuart Woods’ Stone Barrington novels. They’re not your typical shoot-em-up whodunits or your typical lawyer-centered mysteries with a lot of law-speak. Stone is a simple, straightforward man who gets involved in the most complicated scenarios and always manages to come out clean in the end with barely a hair out of place and usually with a woman on his arm. There is an underlying continuity thread among the series, but each story stands alone and each story is a terrific read. I very strongly recommend Stuart Woods’ books, primarily the Stone Barrington and Ed Eagle series.

I give this story FIVE STARS.

Double Take

2010-12-16T13:54:00.001-05:00

Double Take by Catherine Coulter

Are you ready to dive into the world of psychic mediums? We begin with Julia Ransom, widow of the renowned psychic medium August Ransom. For six months the San Francisco police tried to find enough evidence to arrest her, but failed. Then on a clear evening on Pier 39, a stranger knocks her unconscious and heaves her over the railing into the bay. If it weren’t for Special Agent Cheney Stone, Julia would have drowned. Cheney quickly realizes that the attempt on Julia’s life has to be connected with the murder of her husband, and reopens the investigation with the SFPD.

Meanwhile, In Maestro, Virginia, Sheriff Dixon Noble—last seen in Point Blank--learns about a woman named Charlotte Pallack who bears an extraordinary resemblance to his vanished wife, Christine, gone now for more than three years. Dix knows to his soul that Christie is long dead, but he has no choice—he flies out to San Francisco to see this woman.

Dix’s and Cheney’s paths cross, brought together by Savich and Sherlock. They all begin to unlock the mystery of Charlotte Pallack’s identity as well as the forces behind Julia Ransom’s attempted murder and the vicious murder of her husband. The most fascinating aspect of the case is the extraordinary cast of psychics they meet as they push deep into the intriguing, complex world of visions, mind benders, and communications with the dead.

Life isn’t easy for Julia Ransom.

First her husband, psychic medium August Ransom, is killed. The cops focused on her as the potential killer and never bothered to check any other possible leads. Finally, six months later, the police and the media have backed away, giving her some peace.

Then someone tries to kill her.

Fortunately, Special Agent Cheney Stone witnessed the attack and saved her life. He quickly intuits that the attack on her has something to do with the murder of her husband and gets himself involved in the investigation.

Across the country, in the small town of Maestro, Virginia, Sheriff Dixon Noble learns of a woman in San Francisco (not Julia) who bears an uncanny resemblance to his missing wife. Though afraid of what he might find, he has no choice but to go to San Francisco and see this woman. When he meets Charlotte Pallack, he’s taken aback at how much she looks like his Christie, but he also knows that she is not Christie. So why, when they meet the next day, is Charlotte wearing the bracelet he gave Christie for their anniversary?

Dix and Cheney are brought together by Special Agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock as their seemingly separate cases in fact run together. Who killed August Ransom? Who’s trying to kill his widow, Julia Ransom? Who is Charlotte Pallack? Does she have a connection to Christie Noble? What role do August’s contemporaries, mediums Wallace Tammerlane, Blevin Wagner, Soldan Meissen and Katheryn Golden play in this increasingly tangled story? And can they figure it all out before the hired killer gets to Julia?

I’m hard pressed to put my finger on exactly what it was that kept bothering me while I read this book. I had a problem with some of the dialogue—in some areas, the dialogue was, well, it felt wrong. Some of her characters say things that I just can’t imagine people saying in real life. Here’s an example:

At the beginning of the story, Julia is at Pier 39 in San Francisco when the killer attacks. He hits her in the jaw but before he can do anything else, Cheney interrupts them, so the killer tosses her over the pier and takes off. Cheney jumps in and rescues her. His friend, Manny, comes out of the restaurant to look for him.

Another man’s voice came out of the darkness. “Hey, Cheney, can’t I leave you alone for a single minute? Where’s June? I thought she only came out for a cigarette. I thought you came out to fetch her. What’s going on here? Who is this?”

A minute later:

She heard a woman’s voice. “Cheney? Manny? What’s going on here? I finished my cigarette, but neither of you were at the table when I went back inside. Linda said Manny had come to look for you, Cheney. Come on back inside, they just brought our dinner. Hey, what’s this?”

If you were coming out of a restaurant to look for your friend and found them soaking wet, trying to help another person breathe, would you really say all that before saying “Hey, what’s going on here?” Sure, you might start saying all that, but you’d likely shut up the moment you realized something wasn’t right. Nope, these two had a whole paragraph of stuff to say before they clued the reader in to the fact that they could see something was going on.

This is only the first example of what I’d call meaningless dialog that I came across, but it certainly wasn’t the last.

The story involves several different story lines that slowly—very slowly—start to come together before the mad dash at the end. Each line was interesting, but I think there were just too many of them and they were too separate for too long. I was afraid of putting the book down for more than a day for fear I’d forget what was going on and lose track of the story. This, to me, does not make for good reading.

I give this story TWO STARS.

But hey, that’s just my opinion. I’m not saying I hated Double Take, I’m just saying I had a hard time reading this particular book.

When I start to read a series by an author, I usually like to start with the very first book in the series so I can get a handle on the main protagonists. That way, as I continue to read the series, I’ll know their histories and I’ll better understand some of the ensuing story’s nuances. I haven’t done that with the Savich and Sherlock series. Double Take is number 11 in the series, and the only other one I read is number 12, Tail Spin. So I’ll take the blame if there’s something I’m not “getting” by reading the series out of order.

Catherine Coulter has a huge following of loyal readers who love her Savich and Sherlock stories. Right now, I’m just not one of them. I have a few more of her books and I will read them so hopefully I’ll have better things to say about the next one.

Blood Dreams

2010-12-15T11:32:00.001-05:00

Blood Dreams by Kay Hooper

Dani Justice knows all about monsters. They haunt her dreams—and her life. But she never expected to find herself on the trail of a real flesh-and-blood predator so cunning, he’s eluded the best law enforcement could send against him; so deadly, he doesn’t hesitate to kill even a senator’s daughter. Or a cop. Dani doesn’t want to hunt this killer. But she doesn’t have a choice. She alone commands a weapon powerful enough to stop him. And she knows something even Bishop of the FBI’s Special Crimes Unit doesn’t know. Dani knows how the hunt ends. It ends in fire. And blood. And death. What she doesn’t know is who will survive.

We begin in Boston, where a serial killer has the city in his grip. Twelve women killed in only thirty days, the last being the daughter of a prominent senator. Bishop and members of his team join the “regular” FBI agents on the scene to aid in the investigation, but secretly, Bishop has dispatched members of his team to a small town outside Atlanta, which he is convinced is the killer’s next hunting ground. But why would the killer move from a big city like Boston to such a small town like Venture?

Dani Justice and her twin sister Paris are from Venture, and though Dani lives in Atlanta now, she returns to Venture under the cover of being there for her sister as she goes through a divorce. Unfortunately, returning to Venture means meeting up with the local sheriff, her old boyfriend Marcus Purcell. As much as she might want to, she can’t avoid him, especially when women start disappearing.

Her dreams aren’t helping much. Every night she has the same dream of her, Bishop and Agent Hollis Templeton being trapped in a burning building as they hunt for the killer. But now the dreams are changing. Marc is suddenly in the dream and where before Miranda—Bishop’s wife—was in danger, that’s changing too. What does it all mean, and does Dani have the ability to change the dream’s outcome before someone else, someone she knows, winds up on the killer’s table?

Blood Dreams is the tenth book in Kay Hooper’s Bishop/Special Crime Unit series and the first in the “Blood” trilogy. Unlike the other books in the B/SCU series, this book doesn’t really “end.” Several questions are left deliberately unanswered, like: who was the killer working with? How does Hollis fit in with this unknown’s plans? What role does the town’s unusual charismatic church/cult play in all of this?

The answers to these and many others will (may?) be answered in Blood Sins and Blood Ties, books eleven and twelve in the series. Stay tuned!

I give this story THREE AND A HALF STARS.

Killer View

2010-12-12T12:05:00.001-05:00

Killer View by Ridley Pearson

When a skier goes missing at Sun Valley’s Galena Summit, Sheriff Walt Fleming quickly assembles his crack search-and-rescue team and heads out into the snowy night. Despite the treacherous conditions, Walt and his group, including deputy Tommy Brandon and Walt’s best friend, Mark Aker, set off on skis, accompanied by highly trained search dogs. Within minutes, something goes horribly wrong: a shot rings out, and one of their team is dead. By morning, Mark Aker has disappeared.

Torn between professional responsibility and the desperate urge to find his friend, Walt is further challenged by an unexplained illness at a local water-bottling plant that sends workers to the hospital and sets off biohazard warnings. Following threads of questionable evidence through the glitter of Sun Valley leads Walt to an unlikely—and darker—source, and reveals a crime played out on a much larger scale than he originally envisioned. Waist-deep in snow and knee-deep in lies, the life of his friend in the balance, Walt begins to suspect that the whole operation is controlled by people of great wealth and power, which leaves him where he started: out in the cold.

It started off as a simple search and rescue mission. It ended with one member of Sheriff Walt Fleming’s search-and-rescue team dead and another missing. Fleming focuses his energy on finding his missing friend but is soon distracted by other problems: employees of a local water-bottling plant are getting sick and local ranchers are inexplicably burning their sheep in open pits.

Veterinarian Mark Aker, the missing friend, proves to be much more resourceful than his kidnappers could ever have imagined. Members of a radical group calling themselves the Samakinn plotted the whole missing skier scheme so they could get their hands on Mark and force him to help their cause. He not only can help them, he’s perfectly willing to…but he’s not an easy prisoner to hold and when he makes his escape into the snowy countryside, they have to find him before anyone else does, or before he dies of exposure.

Meanwhile, Walt’s personal life is in disarray as he tries to be a good father to his twin daughters as he and his wife proceed with their divorce. It doesn’t help that she’s the jealous sort. It’s perfectly all right in her mind for her to live with another man—Walt’s chief deputy Tommy Brandon—but as soon as she sees Walt and Fiona, the sheriff department’s part-time photographer, together in what she assumes is a romantic clinch, she goes crazy and takes the girls away from him.

Somehow, Walt must divide his attention between getting his girls back and finding Mark, all the while trying to unravel the mystery of the sick employees and the euthanasia of the local cattle. He starts drawing the different lines together and begins to paint a picture of a cover-up on a scale that’s much bigger than any he could have ever imagined.

Compared to the first Walt Fleming book, Killer Weekend, Killer View far outshines its predecessor in plot construction and story telling. The different story lines all seem unrelated at first, but the more you read, the more they all start to come together until you can’t put the book down because you want to know how it all ends. I laughed out loud when Walt decided to take Tommy up in his glider—because Tommy doesn’t like small planes and he’s sleeping with Walt’s soon-to-be ex-wife—and let out a loud “ewwww!” when I found out where the bad guy was hiding from Walt in the shed (very clever, but yuck yuck ewww!!!).

As a reader, you want your favorite authors to throw something new and different at you and not the same old story lines with one or two little tweaks. Killer View may start out sounding familiar but slightly different, but stay with it…it will take you places you never thought you’d go.

I give this story THREE AND A HALF STARS.

I Am Not A Cop!

2010-12-12T00:16:00.002-05:00

I Am Not A Cop! – A Novel by Richard Belzer with Michael Black

When famous TV detective Richard Belzer meets Rudy Markovich, NYC medical examiner, for dinner in Brighton Beach, he has little reason to expect anything more than a friendly bull session. But in the next twenty-four hours the Belz finds himself in the middle of a vicious street bgrawl, splashed across the tabloid headlines as an out-fo-control celeb, and fearing for the life of his good pal—who police assume is sleeping at the bottom of the East River.

With Rudy kidnapped, or worse, it falls to Belzer to solve the riddle of his trusted friend’s mysterous disappearance. As The Belz finds himself increasingly required to call upon the reseources he taps to portray his TV cop character, he maintains his signature sense of humor and carries us along on a rollicking ride through the underworld of New York City. In I Am Not A Cop!, Richard Belzer’s off-camera persona comes to life on the page as one of America’s great comics brings us all of his talents to bear in bookform to produce a captivating, often hilarious, debut mystery.

The story starts with Richard Belzer—as himself—meeting his good friend Rudy Markovich for dinner. Rudy needs Belz’s help in a delicate matter, one that may require Belz’s contacts in the police department. When Belz protests, saying “I’m not a cop. I just play one on TV,” Rudy drops the subject and offers Belz a ticket to a boxing match featuring a mutual friend, Alexi Zotkin. Rudy has the other ticket, but doesn’t show up for the match. When Max Kaminsky, a NYPD Detective and friend shows up, he reluctantly informs Belz that Rudy’s car was found down by the East River, riddled with bullet holes. Rudy’s coat was there too, covered in blood. It does not look good for Rudy.

Belz is all for letting the police do their work, but Rudy was his friend, and when he receives an intriguing letter from Rudy, posted shortly before his death/disappearance, Belz has to act.

Using the skills he’s learned throughout the years of portraying Detective John Munch and enlisting the aid of Kalisha “Kali” Carter, his studio-assigned babysitter/personal assistant, Belz begins his own investigation and before long, finds himself in very serious trouble, not only with the police, but with the Russian mafiya. Can he get to the bottom of Rudy’s disappearance before Kali and he are made to disappear?

Having enjoyed the comedy of Ricard Belzer in the eighties and his witty, acerbic portrayal of Detective John Munch in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, purchasing this book at The Green Valley Bookfair was an easy decision.

Co-authored by Michael Black, a former Chicago police officer and author of three novels and two non-fiction books, I Am Not A Cop! is a well plotted novel involving … um … well, I don’t want to give away more of the plot. If you enjoy Richard Belzer’s humor—which permeates this book as Belz himself is the primary character—then you’ll enjoy this book.

I give this story THREE STARS.

This story has a sequel, I Am Not A Psychic! which I will add to my to-be-read list for next year. Given the size of the list, it may not get read until 2012!

Kiss Me, Kill Me

2010-12-06T00:09:00.001-05:00

Kiss Me, Kill Me by Maggie Shayne

She’s protected him since the day he was born. Since the day the lie began.

A longago act of kindness to a desperate woman changed Dr. Carrie Overton’s life forever. Before disappearing, the grateful stranger had given Carrie her newborn son. When the woman is murdered, the secret becomes Carrie’s alone.

She has kept both it and her son, Sam, safe for sixteen years. But now a friend of Sam’s has gone missing. The police believe he’s a runaway—until he’s found dead. Then another teen disappears, and talk turns to that longago murder.

Newcomer Gabriel Cain is asking too many questions, befriending Sam, getting too close. Carrie distrusts him even as she finds herself falling for him. But Gabriel has secrets too…

Is it time for the lying to end?

Welcome back to Shadow Falls where sixteen years ago, with her infant son Sam, Dr. Carrie Overton settled down to begin her medical practice. Today, she’s a long-standing respected member of the medical profession and the community, Sam is a star on the high school soccer team and Sam’s best friend Kyle has gone missing.

Search teams are assembled, comprising mostly of the town inhabitants, but several seasonal tourists give their time to help find the teen, including Gabriel Cain, itinerant songwriter and Ambrose Arthur Peck, CEO of a Milwaukee investment firm. Both men are attracted to Carrie and while Ambrose is the type she usually goes for—the nerdy, serious type—her eye keeps wandering back to Gabe with his guitar, pony tail and psychedelic 1960’s VW Bus.

When Kyle’s body is found, Sam has a hard time dealing with the loss of his best friend. The two of them and Sam’s girlfriend, Sadie, practically grew up together. Carrie tries to help Sam cope, but it’s Gabe, not Carrie, that seems to get through to the teen with his calm, take-life-as-it-happens philosophy. Carrie may not agree with him, but if it helps Sam, she’s willing to go along with it.

Gabe is a mystery to her, but she finds herself growing more and more attracted to him as the days go on. But she needs to be careful, more careful now than she’s ever been. Some of the new people in town have been drawn to Shadow Falls because of the mysteries that had been uncovered in the past few weeks, and the still unsolved mystery of what happened to Olivia Dupree’s missing baby, known only as Baby Doe. Carrie’s the only one in town that knows the answer to that mystery, and she’s not telling anyone.

When Sadie goes missing, Carrie is forced to confront her fears and must figure out a way to carefully unleash the secret she’s been hiding for sixteen years. Because whether Sadie is found dead or alive, she alone knows who will be next on the kidnapper’s list: Sam.

I have to admit, I had a hard time writing this review because there are so many layers to this story, so many intertwining story lines that tie up the Shadow Falls trilogy that I was afraid to give anything critical away or make the review so long you wouldn’t bother to read the book because I would have told the entire story in the review! I strongly encourage anyone interested in romantic suspense to read these stories. Maggie Shayne is an excellent author who has woven together a terrific trilogy of memorable characters and intriguing story lines that will have you wishing for more. She joins my rank of new authors I’ve come to love thanks to this year-long experiment and I’m sure I’ll read more of her work next year.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

Kill Me Again

2010-12-01T13:10:00.003-05:00

Kill Me Again by Maggie Shayne

I’m not who they say I am. Trust me.

But can she?

Reclusive novelist Aaron Westhaven, a man she’s admired—and more—for years, has accepted Olivia Dupree’s invitation to speak at a local fundraiser. But the day he’s due to arrive, she gets a call summoning her to the beside of a John Doe whose sole possession is her business card.

Can this undeniably compelling man—survivor of an execution-style gunshot wound—really be the novelist the lonely Olivia has grown to think of as a near soul mate? If not, he can be in Shadow Falls for only one reason: to kill her.

Olivia, too, has secrets. And discovering the truth about the man in the hospital bed means dredging up her own past—a past she’s been hiding from for sixteen years.

Welcome back to Shadow Falls, where Professor Olivia Dupree has been living a secret life for sixteen years. She moved here to escape a bad—seriously bad—relationship and has lived in relative anonymity all that time. She’s had no relationships, save for a few friends and her English mastiff, Freddy. And a secret crush on a certain reclusive author named Aaron Westhaven. She’d written to him every time he published a new book, praising his work for touching her so emotionally. She never expected a response, not even when she wrote to him asking him to speak at her college’s annual fundraiser. Imagine her surprise when he responded to her invitation with a ‘yes’ provided his appearance was kept strictly confidential. He even wanted to stay with her at her house. Then imagine her surprise when he fails to show up. Imagine even further her surprise when she receives a call from the hospital, saying they have a John Doe with amnesia and no possessions, save for a pocket watch, a key, a packet of gum and her business card. She agrees to speak to the man in the hospital bed, telling him what she knows about him.

He listens to her, and while he likes what he sees, he can’t help feeling that something about her story is wrong. If he wrote such beautiful, touching stories as the professor insisted, why would anyone want him dead? He needs to get out of the hospital, the sooner the better, but has nowhere to go. Subconsciously calling upon skills he didn’t know he had, he manages to get out of the hospital and find his way to Olivia Dupree’s house just in time to stop an intruder.

Olivia admits that she’s been hiding from killers for sixteen years, but refuses to tell him why. Deciding it’s best for both of them to hide out for a while, at least until they can find some answers, they go into hiding. Olivia eventually admits that her former lover, a police officer in Chicago, was abusive with her. He was also a drug dealer who kept meticulous details of his transactions, including sales ledgers and photographs. His customers may not have been well known back then, but today, if news of their illegal activities got out, their careers and lives would be ruined. Tommy obviously found her and sent someone to obtain the disks and take care of her, permanently.

Aaron’s memory, meanwhile, has been coming back to him in fits and starts. A dream tells him his real name may be Adam, and as for his profession, well, he’s in Shadow Falls for a reason, and he has Olivia’s business card…could he be the killer hired to take out Olivia?

He doesn’t want to believe it, yet every instinct he has says it’s true. And not true at the same time. Olivia seems to be falling in love with him, but is she falling for Aaron, a man she’s already infatuated with, or Adam, the potential hit man? Somehow, he’s got to get to the bottom of this mystery of who tried to kill him and why. If he can figure that out, maybe he can save Olivia, even from himself.

I give this story THREE AND A HALF STARS.

Killing Me Softly

2010-11-22T00:12:00.003-05:00

Killing Me Softly by Maggie Shayne

First you drink, then you DIE.

The Nightcap Strangler, who terrorized the town of Shadow Falls sixteen years ago, has finally been executed. Case closed. Until Bryan Kendall’s lover is murdered in the notorious killer’s unique style and the rookie cop stands accused. Has someone committed the perfect copycat crime…or was the wrong man put to death?

A continent away, Dawn Jones hears that her first love has been accused of murder and knows that only she can help him. But to do so, she’ll have to face the very fears that drove them apart.

Together they’ll work to uncover secrets someone’s willing to kill to keep, and renew a love as dangerous as it is inevitable. And their best lead is the gril found dead in Bryan’s bed, reeking of the whiskey poured down her throat before her killer squeezed it shut.

A killer who thinks that Dawn, too, could use one last drink…

Bryan Kendall, rookie cop in Shadow Falls, VT, has just been returned to active duty following the shooting of a suspect in the line of duty. So, like all young men with something to celebrate, he throws a party. Nothing major, just a dozen or so friends, some beer, some chips and music. But the next morning, when he manages to pick himself up off the bathroom floor and stumble into bed, he finds his girlfriend dead asleep. No, not asleep, just dead. Killed in a manner of a serial killer who was recently executed after being in jail for sixteen years.

Surely this must be the work of a copycat. Very few people knew the intimate details of the case. Nick di Marco, the cop who cracked the case, the chief of police, and Bryan himself.

On the other side of the continent, Dawn Jones receives a call from her mother, telling her the news. She’s sorry, but she can’t return home. There’s too much unfinished business between her and Bryan and that’s the way she wants to keep it. But her mother insists, and Dawn reluctantly boards the flight her mother has booked for her. When she arrives at the bed and breakfast run by her mother (and Bryan’s father), the tension between the former teen lovers is palatable. Before they can even attempt to resolve any of their issues, though, another woman is killed. Bryan was “a person of interest” before. Now the police have obtained an arrest warrant. Though it goes against his instincts, Bryan goes on the run, taking Dawn with him.

Working with Nick, his mentor, Bryan and Dawn begin to investigate the details of the case, trying to track down the real killer and answer some questions. If the man convicted of the crimes sixteen years ago was just executed, who’s committing the crimes now? How did he know the unique signature of the Nightcap Strangler, a detail never released to the press?

And what about Dawn’s special “gift,” passed down to her by her psychotic father, the one that lets her talk to the dead? She left Vermont five years ago to escape the gift, leaving Bryan in the dark as to why she left. Now that she was back, would the dead talk to her? Was the ability gone for good? Or would it come back in time to save not only Bryan’s life, but her own?

I give this story THREE AND A HALF STARS.

Killer Weekend

2010-11-21T23:41:00.004-05:00

Killer Weekend by Ridley Pearson

Eight years ago, Sun Valley, Idaho, sheriff Walt Fleming bravely thwarted an attempt on Attorney General Elizabeth Shaler's life. Now AG Shaler is back in town, poised to announce her candidacy for president at a three-day conference catering to the world's most prominent business leaders. The event is the brainchild of Patrick Cutter, a tycoon whose sybaritic lifestyle is a source of both scorn and awe. (He is but one example of the super-rich citizenry that's taken up residence in the once-quiet ski town.) There is no shortage of security for the proceedings--local police, Secret Service, and Cutter's own team--but it's not enough to deter a cunning assassin who slips seamlessly between a pair of identities. Meanwhile, Sheriff Fleming must cope with the suspicious death of a beautiful socialite and the breakup of his own marriage; it doesn't help matters that his deputy is sleeping with his ex-wife.

The place is Sun Valley, Idaho and, following a hunch, Patrolman Walter Fleming enters the vacation home of New York Attorney General Elizabeth Shaler. He found a community property bike in the woods behind her house and one of the windows to the crawlspace of her home is broken. He saves her life, but not before being seriously injured himself.

Fast forward eight years and Patrolman Fleming is now Sheriff Fleming. Liz Shaler has returned to Sun Valley Idaho and some believe she’s about to announce her candidacy for President of the United States. As local law enforcement, Walt joins her security detail, but he still has his regular duties, including an investigation into the death of a beautiful and faithless socialite, his interfering father, controlling the group of conference protestors and his own dissolving marriage. Not to mention hunting down a clever assassin who manages to slip in past security as easily as he slips between identities.

He saved Liz Shaler’s life once before. Can he do it again?

Normally, I give more detail in my reviews, but I found it difficult to do so with this story without giving away the entire plot. Know this: If you’ve never read Ridley Pearson before—and I never had—he weaves a tightly intricate story combining several different seemingly unrelated story lines that are, in fact, all part of the whole. My only criticism is Sheriff Fleming’s seemingly infallible intuition that tells him means one thing when everyone else says it means something else. Sure, I’ve heard of a cop’s instinct, but it just doesn’t quite ring true with me. Nevertheless, it was a great story.

I give this story THREE AND A HALF STARS.

Happy Ever After

2010-11-12T11:23:00.002-05:00

Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts

Parker Brown turned the quartet’s childhood game of Wedding Day into their dream jobs. And now she’s the face of Vows—the one who meets every bride’s demands; deeps every event on schedule; and brings Emma’s romantic flowers, Laurel’s delicious treats, an Mac’s stunning photography together in one glorious package. She knows how to make dreams come true…

Mechanic Malcolm Kavanaugh loves figuring out how things work, and Parker Brown—with her mile-long legs—is no exception. But as a good friend of Parker’s brother, Mal knows that moving from minor flirtation to major hookup is a serious step.

No man has rattled Parker in a long time, but the motorcycling-riding, raven-haired Mal seems to have a knack for it. His passionate kisses always catch her off guard, much like her growing feelings for him. Parker’s business risks have always paid off, but now hse’ll have to take the chance of a lifetime with her heart…

--Happily Ever After by Nora Roberts, Copyright ©2010 by Nora Roberts, published by Berkeley Books

My Review

The final installment of the Bride Quartet is a wonderful conclusion to the series. The romance that has been building up between Parker and Malcolm finally spills over and these two find themselves face to face with each other…and they like what they see.

Socially, they’re living in two different worlds. Parker is a “have” while Mal is a “have not” but Parker is not one to live off her family money. Browns work, and she does, building Vows with her three friends and as she’s the primary planner and organizer, she doesn’t just work, she works! Malcolm sees that and has a lot of respect for her because of it. He’s worked hard all his life and he knows what it means to sweat for a paycheck.

The coming together of these two may seem like a mistake, but Mal and Parker compliment each others weaknesses. Mal seems to know instinctively how to get past Parker’s barriers and make himself comfortable within them and Parker knows just how to push Mal’s buttons. They’re perfect together…but Parker wishes Mal would open up about his past a little bit. He says it’s not important, but how can they build a future without knowing what formed the past? Her past is an open book—everyone knows her story—but Mal’s is closed to everyone, including Parker. Will Malcolm let down his walls and let Parker in or will he be closed and alone forever?

I give this story FOUR STARS.

And with that, I officially end "Norapalooza" for the remainder of 2010. I swear that I will not read or listen to another Nora Roberts book for the rest of this year. I have a backlog of books to read like you wouldn't believe and if I keep going back and re-reading old stuff, I'll never get caught up. So for the rest of this year, if I read a book, it has to be a new-to-me book and not a re-read and not a Nora Roberts. I promise! I do, I really do promise!

As for next year...well, I have decided that I will continue this blog into 2011, and yeah, I'll no doubt be reading new and re-reading old Nora books, but I'll try my best to keep them to a minimum, okay?