Category: Books-Fiction

Assassin’s Code – Ward Larsen – Slaton v. Terrorists – in France

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Assassin’s Code -Ward Larsen (David Slaton #4)

The other day Assassin’s Code by Ward Larsen became the 59th book I have read this year. That leaves only one more book to read before the end of the year to reach my goal of 60 books read!  It is also the third David Slaton novel I have read this year. Previously, I read Assassin’s Game and Assassin’s Silence in February and March respectively. All three have been terrific reads.

About David Slaton and Assassin’s Code

David Slaton is a retired kidon or an assassin. He worked for Mossad. After his last to adventures David along with his wife Catherine and their son Davy was living on a catamaran in the islands off of the Philippines.

One day his wife received a request for David to search for her missing husband. He had left on a fishing trip and not returned home.  It had been reported that his ship had been seen tied to the abandoned ship, Esperanza When he finds and boards the Esperanza, he encounters four men who have apprently been sent to kill him.

Slatin escapes leaving the men wounded or dead. He takes with him a memory stick with the name Slaton written on the side. Among the files on the memory stick is a picture of a man. It is the terrorist Ali Samir, who Slaton had assassinated  fifteen years earlier!

Meanwhile in France terrorists have struck again a bomb has rocked Grenoble. It has set France’s counterterrorist unit into action. The investigation into the bombing is led  by rising-star Zavier Baland. It is Baland who bears an uncanny resemblance to the terrorist Slaton had executed.

Hold on, could it be a terrorist long thought dead is now one step away from heading France’s  DGSI? More importantly what can David Slaton do to stop him?

My Thoughts about David Slaton and Assassin’s Code 

In David Slaton Ward Larsen has created one terrific character. David is an extraordinary assassin.  But he is also a husband and father and he  knows his work puts his family in danger. (See Assassin’s Silence) At least twice he has retired and gone off the grid to keep them safe. However, his sense of duty keeps drawing him back into service.

In Assassin’s Code that duty is to prevent a terrorist from ascending to the top of France’s counterterrorist unit.

Ward Larsen has created a fine character in David Slaton. In Assassin’s Code, he has also created two great characters: Zavier Baland and the assassin turned terrorist Malika.

Assassin’s Code plot twists and turns with the final answers to a myriad of questions are not revealed until the final pages.

When reading Assassin’s Code the reader can’t help but relate the actions and attack’s in the book to the current situation in France and Syria.

Bottom line :

Great read! So check it out! And also check out Assassin’s Silence and Assassin’s Game

Goodreads Rating: 4.38.    My Rating 4.5.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Ward Larsen

Author’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon

 

Where My September Reads Took Me – Part I

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Where My First Three Reads in September Took Me…..

Ok so now that we are eight days into October I think it’s about time that I took you on a little trip. On the trip we will visit the places I was taken by the books that t I read in September.

Night of the Living Demon Slayers - Angie Fox

New Orleans – Night of the Living Demon Slayer – Angie Fox

Our first stop is New Orleans, which was the location of  the seventh adventure of Demon Slayer Lizzie Brown chronicled in Night of the Living Demon Slayer. The adventure was put to paper by Angie Fox. In this adventure Lizzie’s is requested by a necromancer Evan Carpenter to go with him to New Orleans and aid in figuring out what voodoo bokor Osse Pade is up to. So because Lizzie owes Carpenter big-time she is off to New Orleans to face down Pade. And as always Lizzie’s grannie and her biker coven of witches go along to provide support. Lizzie also gets some aid from her shape-shifting husband, Dmitiri!  This is only the second book I have read from  Ms. Fox but they both have been a fun adventure!

Rating 3 stars out of 5. (Really liked it and I will read more when I need to escape from more grizzly adventures)

Paradise Valley - C J Box

The next stop on my month-long adventure was Paradise Valley, Montana where Cassie Dewell and the Lizard King face-off in Paradise Valley, the fourth book of C.J. Box’s Highway Quartet. Cassie has been chasing the Lizard King, a long-distance trucker and serial killer for three years. The Lizard King, was so named because he preys on prostitutes on the nation’s highways. The prostitutes are known as lot lizards.

Cassie almost caught The Lizard King once but he got away. Now working for the Bakken County, North Dakota sheriff’s department she thinks she has created the perfect trap to catch him.But when things go south Cassie loses her job. Meanwhile, Kyle Westergaard, a troubled teen and a friend have finally taken off down river on their great adventure. Soon Kyle turns up missing and Cassie sets out to find him. However, it soon appears that the trail to Kyle may also lead Cassie to the Lizard King and back to Paradise Valley where the hunt began!

C.J. Box is one of my must read authors. I usually am quick to read the latest Joe Pickett novel! My hope is that we will hear more about Cassie Dewell!

Rating: Four stars – (really, really liked it!!)

White Rage - Carol Anderson Ph.D tops on my September reading list

 

Across America – White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson 

The next book White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson Ph.D.was my first of four non-fiction books that I read in September. This short book took me around America in time and space. While it is a short book it packs a lot of punch! Ms. Anderson traces America;s racial divide from the south’s Reconstruction period though the Jim Crow years and the Great Migration right up to the current events that seem to have widen that divide. Along the way she presented to me many things about the black experience in America that I didn’t know , or knew and forgot. This is a book that should be read in every high school and college across America! And maybe then we can take a hard look at ourselves and all work towards narrowing that divide!!

Rating: Five Stars out of 5! That means it was an amazing book! Read it Damn It!

 

 

 

Three Great Books Ignite My September Reading!!

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A Demon Slayer, a Lizard King and White Rage Power the Start of My September Reading

Over the first eight days of September, I finished three books, bringing the total number of books I have read in 2017 to 41. Goodreads says that I am back on pace to read my projected goal of 60 books. The three books I finished are……

Night of the Living Demon Slayers - Angie Fox

The Night of the Living Demon Slayer by Angie Fox

Ok or it’s not War and Peace, but it’s more fun! I have never read War and Peace but I don’t think there are any necromancers, voodoo priestesses or granny motorcycle riding witches in it. So what fun is that!

From Amazon….

Lizzie Brown is all for letting the good times roll…until a dark voodoo church rises up in the bayou outside of New Orleans. Now ritual fires are burning long into the night and the dead are having a hard time staying that way. 

Lizzie goes in undercover to put a stop to the madness. Good thing she can count on her sexy shape-shifter husband, as well as her Grandma’s gang of biker witches. Too bad nobody’s watching her trusty dog, Pirate, who has become way too friendly with the phantom haunting a long-forgotten Victorian séance room. 

Secrets and spirits abound. Nothing is what it seems. And when legions of the dead threaten the city, there may be no stopping them. 

Ok or it’s not War and Peace, but it’s more fun! I have never read War and Peace but I don’t think there are any necromancers, voodoo priestesses or granny motorcycle riding witches in it. So what fun is that!

Bottom line: Ratings Goodreads 4.3    A Sixties Man 3.5

I gave this book a rating of 3.5 out of 5. My reasoning is that while Angie Fox’s books are always filled with great dialogue and interesting characters. They aren’t War and Peace. i.e. while the books are great fun, they will never be mistaken for great literature. And actually that is not a bad thing!!

Author’s Website

Paradise Valley - C J Box

Paradise Valley – C J Box

Paradise Valley is the fourth book in The Highway Quartet from C.J.Box. The series started with Back of Beyond, where  readers met Cody Hoyt. Hoyt travels Back of Beyond to save his son from a killer who may be leading a multi-day wilderness horseback trip into the remote corners of Yellowstone National Park that his son is on. In this book the reader meets a young fourteen year-old girl Gracie Sullivan.

In book two of the series Cody has lost his job as a detective after falling off the wagon but he sets out to discover what happened to two young teenage girls who vanished on a lonely Montana highway. One of the girls is young Gracie Sullivan, Cody works with his old rookie partner Cassie Dewell to track down the girls The main suspect is a long-haul trucker who may have snatched the girls. And it may not have been his first kidnapping and he may not be working alone!

In book three Badlands, Cassie moves to North Dakota and again confronts the killer from The Highway now known as The Lizard King. The name comes from the many prostitutes he has killed on his long-hauls across the country.

Finally book four comes full circle and Cassie eventually follows the Lizard King to Paradise Valley for potentially a final confrontation.

Bottom Line:  Ratings Goodreads 4.3    A Sixties Man 4.5

As always C.J. Has written a page-turning story with great characters. I love the way Box connected the last book back to the first book.

While The Highway Quartet may conclude that quartet of books, I hope it is not the end of Cassie Dewell. Maybe the offer from “Bull”!Mitchell’s daughter who is a lawyer for Cassie to become an investigator for her opens a new avenue for Box to explore. Maybe Cassie can even join Joe Pickett for an adventure!  You can listen to C.J. Box talk about Paradise Valley here. In the interview CJ. discusses the possible future of Cassie Dewell

White Rage - Carol Anderson Ph.D.

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide – Carol Anderson, Ph.D.

In the short and powerful White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide author Carol Anderson traces the racial divide in America from the end of the Civil War through the election of our first black president Barack Obama. While this book is quite short (164 pages) it is very powerful and super information Actually I would be hard pressed to list be the number of times I thought “I didn’t know that or that is unbelievable” while I was reading this book.

Natasha Trethewey, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Native Guard and two-time poet laureate of the United States wrote this about the book

” White Rage is a harrowing account of our national history during the century and a half since the Civil War. – even more troubling for what it exposes about our present, our deep and abiding racial divide. This is necessary reading for anyone interested in understanding and perfecting – our union.”

As I read White Rage I thought, this should be required reading in most High School classes and definitely in all college history or political science classes!

In the book Ms Anderson looks at the struggle for black equality and justice through Reconstruction, the Great Migration, and he aftermath of Brown vs  Board of Education. As well as, the Civil Rights movement and the rolling back of those Rights from Nixon to Reagan. Particularly disturbing was the section of Reagan and the creation of the crack epidemic!

Ms Andersen also discusses the effect of the election of our first black president. And the Republican’s subsequent attempts and success at voter suppression. All aimed at disenfranchising black and Latino voters.l

Read More about Carol Anderson Ph. D.  here

Bottom Line:  Rating:  GoodReads 4.39   A Sixties Man : 4.75

Definitely required reading for all Americans who are concerned about the current racial divide in our country. It is a divide that must be closed. Particularly, if we as a nation want to live up to our national ideals. Especially the ideal -“that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”!

The Secrets She Keeps: A Stand-Out by Michael Robotham

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The Secrets She Keeps – Michael Robotham

Ever since I read Suspect book one in the Joe O’Loughlin series from Michael Robotham I have been a fan. The Secrets She Keeps Robotham’s fourth stand alone novel only increased my love for his books.  His three other stand alone books are The Night Ferry, Life or Death, and Bombproof. Bombproof is the only one of the four I have not read yet! Boo me!

About Michael Robotham’s Books

From Michael’s Website...

Michael’s novels have since been translated into 23 languages and have won or been shortlisted for numerous awards including:
The Crime Writer’s Association Gold Dagger (won) LIFE OR DEATH 2015 (shortlisted) SAY YOU’RE SORRY 2013.
The Crime Writer’s Association Steel Dagger (shortlisted) THE NIGHT FERRY and SHATTER.
The Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel (won 2005 and 2008) LOST and SHATTER.
The Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel (shortlisted) 2016 LIFE OR DEATH Read More

 

But let’s get back to The Secrets She Keeps . In The Secrets She Keeps there are two shes. Agatha and Meghan, They come from different backgrounds but both are keeping big secrets, Robotham suspensively exposes those secrets, bit by bit, throughout the developing story.

On his website Robotham writes this about the book…..

THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS is seeded in a story that I covered as journalist many years ago, but I can’t reveal the details without giving too much of the plot away. I can tell you about the two narrators, who are both pregnant and expecting their children on the same day.

Meghan Shaughnessy was born into a comfortable middle-class family, went to private schools and university, worked for a magazine, and then met a handsome and successful man and married him. They five in a lovely house in a nice area of London and have two children, a boy and a girl.
Agatha Fyfle was abandoned by her father, raised by her mother, and spent time in foster care. She lives in a one-bedroom flat and works in a supermarket, stacking shelves and waiting for her boyfriend – the father of her child – to call her.

I have written both of these women in the first person because I think first-person narrators create an immediate intimacy with readers. You are watching the world through their eyes. They are not kick-ass heroines like Buffy or Lisbeth or Katniss or Arya Stark, nor are they damsels in distress. They are strong, vulnerable, intelligent, empathetic women, who both have a terrible secret.

Bottom Line

I have rated this book a strong 5 out of 5. The Secrets She Keeps has everything one wants in a psychological thriller. Two well-drawn characters whose lives and secrets are on a collision course. Along with a wild post-collision ride.

Along the way Robotham also develops strong secondary characters  in Meghan’s husband Jack and Agatha ‘s boyfriend/ fiancé Hayden.

Then there is just Michael Robotham’s fine writing. Several times I stopped and said to myself. I like that line.  That’s just nothing something I often do!

Here is my favorite

She says I should reach out and build bridges, but I think certain bridges are meant to burn and it’s a shame some people can’t be on them when it happens.

So The Secrets She Keeps s is one of my favorites of  2017 and could be one of yours, too. So check it out!

Oh, I did read on Michael’s website that there will be a new Joe O’Loughlin book release in 2018. I can’t wait.

There are eight books currently in the series so if you start now maybe you can read them all before the next one’s released. Believe me it’s worth it!

Links

Michael Robotham Website
Amazon
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads;

About Michael Robotham

Michael Robotham is an Australian crime fiction writer who has twice won the CWA Gold Dagger award for best novel and twice been shortlisted for the Edgar Award for best novel. His eldest child is Alexandra Hope Robotham, professionally known as Alex Hope, an Australian producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Wikipedia

Born: 1960 (age 64 years), Casino, Australia

Notable awards: The CWA Gold Dagger, 2015, 2020

Notable works: Life or Death

 

Winterlong – Mason Cross (Carter Blake # 3)

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A Wild Ride as Winterlong tries to Eliminate Carter Blake

Winterlong is the third installment of Mason Cross’s Carter Blake series. So after chasing down two serial killers who were part of Winterlong with the mysterious Mr Blake in this book Blake is targeted for elimination  by Winterlong.

Carter Blake left Winterlong five years prior to the start of this tale. His deal with the then Director of the organization was – you leave me alone and I won’t tell what your operatives really do!  For five years that deal held but now there’s a new director and she wants to tie up any loose ends. Carter Blake is a loose end!

The hunt truly begins when the other Winterlong operative who is operating under the same deal as Blake is executed! Once Blake is confronted with the news of this execution he knows he is going to have a fight on his hands and he needs that information he has on Winterlong as a chip to bargain for his life. His only hope is to get that intell before Winterlong gets it.

Thoughts on Winterlong

I thought  The Killing Season was a very good debut novel. I liked book two The Samaritan a little  better. Finally after many weeks of sitting on my library books to  be read shelf I got to Winterlong. It was worth the wait. I believe that this is the best Carter Blake book yet. And I am not alone here are the ratings for the book at Goodreads The Killing Season (Book 1) 3.90, The Samaritan (Book 2) 3.93, Winterlong (Book 3) 4.27!

One of the aspects of a series book that I always think about is can the book be enjoyed without reading the other books. The answer is probably yes, But I do believe that you really need to read the first two books before diving into Winterlong. Books 1 and 2 in the series established several things. First, Blake is good at what he does (finds people who don’t want to be found). And secondly, some Winterlong operatives enjoyed the killing part of their job just a little too much.

The one thing that was not revealed in the first two books was what fully went on in Winterlong and why did Blake leave  The answers are revealed in Winterlong and they’re scary!

Bottom Line   Rating 4.5/5

This year has been a good year for me and thrillers. Among the 37 books that I have read this year I have met some great new characters. Cross’s Carter Blake is one of my favorites. Other characters who I discovered this year are Ward Larsen’s David Slaton and Chris Holm’s Michael Kendricks

Winterlong is presented in a variety of ways. First Carter Blake’s current trials are told in the first person. While the events that led him to leave Winterlong are told in third person flashbacks. The pace of the story is rapid, As such, the reader wants to keep reading page after page. So Check it out!!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Mason Cross

Author’s Website
Goodreads
Twitter
Facebook
Amazon

 

Carter Blake Hunts The Samaritan (Hint Not a Good Samaritan)!

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The Samaritan – (Carter Blake #2) – Mason Cross

 

The Samaritan is book two in the Carter Blake series from Glasgow author Mason Cross. It is also the second of Blake’s adventures that I have read about.And I must say that I found this episode more enjoyable than the first. So I am really looking forward to Winterlong the third book in the series, that has been languishing on my library books to be read shelf for about five weeks!! See I checked it out of the library and then found out it was book three in the series. So I went back and read books one and two before partaking of book three.

The Story

 

In The Samaritan Carter Blake again seeks to find someone of doesn’t want to be found. In this case it is an old Winterlong team member Dean Crozier. As a member of Winterlong, Blake thought Crozier liked killing just a little too much. And now it appears that Crozier is back in his hometown of LA, preying upon young women in distress. After the bodies of three murdered women are found in shallow graves on an isolated LA hillside. Both Carter Blake and LAPD Detective Jessica Allen have seen the work of the Samaritan before. All three of the woman were tortured and then had their throats slashed with a rough bladed knife. Blake had seen the death strokes during his time with Winterlong. While Allen had seen them during her previous job in Washington D.C,

Blake soon comes to LA and offers his services to Detective Allen and her partner. Only this time Blake is not welcomed into the investigation.  In fact,  Blake has the tables turned on him, during the investigation, and  the hunter becomes the hunted!  But the ultimate question becomes – Can Allen and Blake catch the Samaritan before he takes more lives.

Thoughts About The Samaritan

 

It the beginning of this post I wrote that I enjoyed The Samaritan more than The Killing Season. There are several reasons for that increased enjoyment. First, I  enjoyed the overall plot and the pace of the book more in this  second book. That may be because I know Carter Blake a little better, but I don’t think that was all of it. Even though this is a pretty typical hunt for a serial killer book, I thought that Mason Cross added some big twists turning the hunter into the hunted and I never really saw the twist at the end coming. I also liked the character of Jessica Allen a little better than Elaine Banner in the first book. Jessica like Blake has an edge and often bucks the system when needed.

Bottom Line

Rating 4/5

I really really liked The Samaritan. I like the Carter Blake character more and more as his character grows with each book. The pages really flew by in the second half of the book! I couldn’t put it down! And when I did manage to put it down. it called me back very quickly!! Now I am off to read Winterlong where I know I’ll discover more about Carter Blake!! So Check these books out/ I do recommend that you start at the beginning of the series!!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Mason Cross

Author’s Website
Goodreads
Twitter
Facebook
Amazon

 

The Killing Season a Fine First Visit to the World of Carter Blake!

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📚 Series Spotlight: Carter Blake #1 – The Killing Season by Mason Cross

The Killing Season

Only five books were released in this series between 2014 and 2018, but I read them all—and they were really good. Here’s a look back at the one that kicked it off: The Killing Season, the debut novel by Mason Cross.

📖 About the Book

Carter Blake is not his real name. He used to work for a top-secret government unit known as Winterlong, but now he’s a man for hire, specializing in finding people who don’t want to be found. He’s eerily good at it—able to anticipate a target’s next move like a chess master.

In The Killing Season, Blake is hired to track Caleb Wardell, aka “The Chicago Sniper,” who escapes from death row just two weeks before his scheduled execution. The FBI brings Blake in to assist, and paired with Special Agent Elaine Banner, he begins a deadly cross-country pursuit.

The tension is high, the pacing fast, and the stakes feel real.

👤 About the Author

Mason Cross (born 1979, Glasgow) studied English at the University of Stirling and has worked as a tax officer, project manager, and even a pizza delivery driver. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen, Scribble, and First Edition. The Killing Season was his first novel, and it made quite a splash:

Longlisted for the 2015 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year

🔍 Thoughts on The Killing Season

I really enjoyed this one. It was well-paced, suspenseful, and packed with a few great surprises.

I did think the prior connection between Blake and Wardell felt a bit forced—but it worked for the plot. The idea that Blake could consistently outmaneuver the FBI stretched believability a little, but hey—that’s why he’s the guy they call, right?

There’s a deliberate mystique around Blake; we don’t learn much about him, but that fits the “lone wolf” archetype. I immediately picked up the second book, The Samaritan, and can confirm it also starts strong.

Rating: 4/5 – Highly Recommended for fans of Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X or Lee Child’s Jack Reacher.

🗣️ What Others Say

“Pulse-pounding. Mason Cross launches into The Killing Season with no-holds barred… one of the best new series characters since Jack Reacher.” – Lisa Gardner

“Mason Cross has created an enigmatic character in Carter Blake… taut, intelligent writing that oozes suspense. A highly impressive debut.” – Matt Hilton

“An American setting, universal themes, top-class writing, Scottish author—it’s a recipe that makes a deadly impact.” – Daily Record

🔗 Further Exploration

Stay tuned—I’ll be revisiting the rest of the series soon!

The Seventh Plague – James Rollins

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The Seventh Plague - James Rollins

Originally Posted July 2017 Revised and Updated April 2026

I do believe that I say this every time I read a new novel by James Rollins. I don’t know why I put off reading James Rollins books! His latest The Seventh Plague has been sitting on my “to be read” pile of library books for more than a month! Mistake! I finished it last night and it was great!

Winning the Battle- Books vs. Other Media

After finishing Charlie Donlea’s last book The Girl Who Was Taken I was reading his biography at his website. In it he writes about what makes a book good enough to win the battle between books and other media alternatives….

….And the answer is

The book has to call me back to it. If a story makes me think about it after I’ve put it down, if it makes me wonder what will happen next, if it makes me ponder where the characters are going and what is in store for them—then, when I’m free and able to spend leisure time on entertainment, hands down I’m reaching for that book before anything else.

 

Well, The Seventh Plague certainly kept calling me back! Typically, as I read a book I read to the end of a chapter and then go do something else. It seemed that every time I got to the end of a chapter in The Seventh P:lague, bam, something happened! And that something made it very hard to put the book down! It always left me feeling, I can’t wait to get back and see what happens!

Book: Edward come back

Me: I’ll be back as soon as possible!!

About The Seventh Plague

So let’s get back to The Seventh Plague. In the book James Rollins  blends a lot of history and science into an action packed compelling story! The story when archaeologist Harold McCabe who has been lost for two years in the desert in Sudan unexpectedly comes stumbling out of the desert. He wants to tell his story. However, he dies before his story is told.  After he dies, the doctors performing the autopsy on his partially mummifid body become ill with a mysterious disease. Soon the  mysterious disease starts to quickly spreads through Cairo.

More people become ill, after McCabe’s body is returned to Britain. A British doctor becomes concerned and calls her friend, Sigma Force director Painter Crowe. She is concerned because the archaeologist Harold McCabe had been searching for proof  that ten plagues of Moses are more than a fable..He believes that they really happened  And as the pandemic spreads the Doctor begins to believe that they may have happened So  the question becomes… can they happen again? The Sigma Forces’ assignment find out what’s happening an stop it. The only problem is that someone may not want them to stop it!!

In the novel, Rollins mixes the lives of  Doctors Stanley and Livingstone, Mark Twain,and Nicholas Tesla(?)  with the plagues of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt ! Oh, there’s even something about elephants thrown into the mix!

If you like action adventure, mixed with history and science coupled with compelling characters look no further  than the Sigma Force novels of James Rollins! Those books don’t only call you back to them. You also learn something from them. Is there anyone who may be more interesting than Nicholas Tesla?  In addition, the members of the Sigma Force and even the villains are great characters who face challenges on a global scale. But they also have lives outside of their work, so they also face the personal challenges of everyday life!

Finally, you can read most of the Rollins novels separately.  But like any series it’s always more fun knowing what has happened to the characters in their prior adventures. But don’t let that stop you. Read The Seventh Plague and then the rest of the books will call you to them

Author’s Website
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Goodreads

James Rollins

About James Rollins

James Rollins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers. His writing has been translated into more than forty languages and has sold more than 20 million books. The New York Times says, “Rollins is what you might wind up with if you tossed Michael Crichton and Dan Brown into a particle accelerator together.” NPR calls his work, “Adventurous and enormously engrossing.”

Return to Authors Page
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Can Steve Hamilton’s Nick Mason Find His Exit Strategy?

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Exist Strategy – Steve Hamilton  (Nick Mason #2)

 

Exit Strategy is the second. book in the Nick Mason series from author Steve Hamilton. The Second Life of Nick Mason  was the first book in the series and it introduced readers to a different kind of hero. Nick Mason was a prisoner serving 25 years as the result of a robbery gone wrong. While in prison gang kingpin Darius Cole offers Nick his freedom, but not without a catch. The catch is that Nick has to carry out any mission assigned to him. And if he doesn’t hs ex-wife and nine-year old daughter will pay a heavy price. The missions – kill people who Cole needs dead!!

About the Books of Steve Hamilton

I have been a fan of Steve Hamilton and his character Alex McKnight since I read the second book in that series Winter of the Wolf. I had gone to the library to check out his first McKnight novel A Cold Day in Paradise but it was checked out. So I settled for Winter of the Wolf and I’ m glad I did because I have read every book since!!

From Steve Hamilton’s website:

About: Exit Strategy

Darius Cole has a problem, He has been granted a retrial based upon an Anonymous Juror violation. His problem is that  the two key witnesses that testified against him in his first trial twelve years ago are still around and ready to testify again! They both are in the Federal Witness Protection Program.

Like Darius Cole, Nick Mason has a problem. It is Darius Cole! Nick hates the life he has to lead. All he wants is to get back to living a normal life, particularly with his nine-year old daughter Adriana. That can’t ever happen unless Nick figures out an exit strategy from Darius.

So with that on his mind Nick is given an assignment kill the witness set to testify against Cole. Once gain it pains Nick to be directed to kill. Mason becomes more determined to break free of the clutches of Cole, but can he do it before the next assignment breaks him!

Bottom Line

Exit Strategy is a strong 4 star book for me. The book really has everything you’d want. An engaging main character in Nick Mason.There are also a ton of engaging secondary characters. They include  Mason’ daughter and ex-wife, Cole’s woman Diana who is Mason’s house mate. She is as much a prisoner of Cole’s as Mason is. There is also police detective Frank Sandoval. Sandoval has been on Mason’s trail since the crime that sent Mason to prison.

Then there is also a great storyline. Although I do think that some of Nick’s escapes during his missions were a little hard to believe. But those things are not enough to dampen my enthusiasm for the book. It certainly didn’t slow down the rapid reading pace that the book had me reading!! So Check it Out!!

Book 31 for 2017

Parnell Hall -A Puzzle to Be Named Later and the Series Gets Better and Better!

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Originally Posted July 2017 revised April 2026

Ok so maybe juts maybe Parnell Hall is not going to win any major literary awards for his Puzzle Lady series. But if you are looking for a fast, funny and just enjoyable read try a Puzzle Lady book! I admit I have not read even close to the majority of the book series. I usually just pick up one of them at the library when I need a laugh break from all the murder and mayhem that I read.

The latest one that I just finished A Puzzle to Be Named Later was a welcome break after the last few intense books that I’ve finished. Especially, Chris Carter’s I Am Death and of course the ongoing circus of the Trump Administration.

My History with Parnell Hall

I first started reading the books of Parnell Hall way back in 1991 when I read my first Stanley Hastings mystery. Strangler, which was the fourth book in the series. Since then I have read all but two of the books in the now 20 book series.

One of the books that I haven’t read is A Fool for a Client which is book 20 in the series. I totally missed the release of this one. But is now being held at my local branch of the Burlington County Library System. Anyway, the point is that I have always preferred Stanley over Cora but after reading more of the Puzzle Lady books, Cora is growing on me. Booklist writes this about Cora……

“If sweet-looking, gray-haired Miss Marple cursed, smoked, and carried a gun in her purse, she’d be a ringer for Cora Felton.”

AboutA Puzzle To Be Named Later

In A Puzzle to Be Named Later  Cora is once again in the middle of a Bakerhaven murder investigation. This time the murder revolves around an up and coming new star pitcher for the New York Yankees – Matt Greystone. After signing a huge contract Greystone, who came to the Yankees as a “player to be named later”, breaks his arm in an automobile crash.

Greystone moves to Bakerhaven to avoid the bright lights of  New York and rehab in peace. When a sleazy New York gossip columnist is found dead in Matt’s sauna, during a welcome to Bakershaven bash, Matt’s wife becomes the prime suspect. There is also a crossword puzzle found with the dead man. The solution to the puzzle says “you’ll find a surprise in the file of this guy”. That sends Cora onto the trail of the killer and she won’t stop to she finds out who did it!

Bottom Line:

The Cora Felton Puzzle Lady books are a fun and welcome change from gruesome murder mysteries. Parnell is a master of witty dialogue. He also is great at creating characters, who are foils for his lead characters. Cora Felton has two foils. First. Captain Harper of the Bakerhaven police. And secondly, Sargent Crowley of the NYPD. Cora’s relations with both policemen are some of the best parts of the books.

So let’s see A Puzzle to Be Named Later gets 5 stars for a fun character and snappy dialogue, 3 stars for artistic style i.e descriptiveness, creation of a sense of place, etc. Finally 4 stars for a twisty turning plot that kept my interest. Those twists never stopped until the last pages of the book.  Averaging those three ratings gives the book a solid 4 star rating.  That means that I really, really liked A Player to be Named Later.

Now I must admit that I am a lot like Cora Felton, when it comes to doing crossword puzzles. I don’t do them very well. In each book puzzles from Will Shortz provide clues to solve the mystery. I guess in one of these books, I really have to try to solve some of these puzzle. Does anyone else who read these books, do the puzzles? Just curious!

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Parnel Hall - author of Stanley Hastings and Puzzle Lady novels

About Parnell Hall

If you like a little humor in your books….

You might enjoy these authors:

Tim Dorsey
Janet Evanovich
Christopher Moore

Whether you’re solving crosswords with Cora or running from the mob with Stephanie Plum, these authors prove that a good mystery is always better with a side of laughter.