Category: Books-Fiction

Marked for Life by Emilie Schepp – One of the best of 2016!

  By

Marked for Life – Emelie Schepp

 

Sometime last month I picked up Emelie Scheep’s book Marked for Revenge. On the cover it said that she was “2016  Swedish Crime Writer of the Year”. I am a fan of Nordic crime writing. That meant there was no way this book was not gong home with me. When I got it home though I discovered that the book was the second book in a trilogy. I decided that there was no sense in reading book two first and then book one so I checked out the first book of the trilogy Marked For Life. I read it first. When I finished it I agreed that the Crime Writer of the Year award was justly deserved.

Quickly, I moved onto the already checked out Marked for Revenge.  I finished that about two weeks later in th middle of June. I just checked and it seems that I will have to wait until June of 2018 for the release of Marked for Death the final book in the trilogy!!

About Marked for Life

 

Jana Berzelius is a young and brilliant but cold, Public Prosecutor in Norrköping Sweden. She is the adopted daughter of the former Prosecutor General Karl Berzelius. Jana knows very little about her past. Most of what she does know she has learned from her dreams. She does know, however, that the name KER is carved into the back of her neck. KER “Goddess of Death”. It’s the one thing that her father told her she could never tell anyone about. Everything thing is going well in her life…

But then a high-ranking official of the Migration Board is founded murdered in his home. The only clue revealed during the police investigation are the fingerprints of a child. The puzzling thing is that the victim and his wife are childless.Jana steps in to lead the police investigation.

Several days after the murder, the police find the dead body of their young prime suspect. The police discover the name Hades carved on the back of his neck. Jana’s world is suddenly turned upside down. The name Hades who is the God of Death is very similar to KER, the name carved on the back of her neck. Images from Jana’s dark past-life soon come racing back to her. Now, in order to both uncover and protect her hidden past Jana must find the real suspect behind these two murders before police, she is leading, unravel the crime. To do that she needs to explore her past in all its gory detail!

Thoughts About Marked for Life

In addition to  the terrific story, and the great character of Jana Berzelius, there are a couple of aspects of Marked for Life that I really liked.

First, Emelie Schepp tells the story of Jana’s past life brilliantly through a series of flashbacks.  Emelie reveals Jana’s past bit by bit. That slow revealing of her past helped keep me turning the pages with increasing rapidity!! . I do appreciate that rather than just distinguish the flashbacks from current time through the title page of the chapter, the flashbacks are in  italics. By presenting  the flashbacks like this the reader is never confused about whether or not he or she is reading about the past or the present!!

Secondly,  Jana is obviously the main character of the book. However,  Emelie has also created a cast of characters, any of which could be the lead in a future novel. First there’s Gunnar Öhrn head of the CID and his on and off again partner Anneli Lindgren, Then there’s DCI Henrik Levin, and his partner Mia Bolander.  I could see a book with any of them as the lead character!!

Bottom Line: 

Marked for Life is a sure-fire five-star book for me. Obviously, those who bestowed the Crime Writer of the Year Award on her thought so , too!.The two comments on the back cover of the book sum up my thoughts perfectly……

“A fast-paced thriller with a good blend of police procedural, the draw of a ninja-strong female lead, and enough adrenaline to make a good night’s sleep a near impossibility” – Booklist

” A stellar first in a crime trilogy… Schepp couples an insightful look at the personal and professional lives of her characters with an unflinching multi-layered plot loaded with surprises – Publishers Weekly , starred review

Yes this is one book you don’t want to miss. I’m glad I didn’t!! I just discovered that you can buy the Kindle Edition of Marked for Life at Amazon now for only $1.99 what a buy!! Get it here

Book 25 of 2017

.

 

 

The Girl Who Was Taken : Another Winner from Charlie Donlea

  By ,

The Girl Who Was Taken – Charlie Donlea

The Girl who was Taken - Charlie Donlea

The Girl Who Was Taken is second book written by Charlie Donlea I read his debut novel Summit Lake last year and thought it was a great read. I think that this book is even better. So I can’t wait for book his next book!

 The Story

In The Girl Who Was Taken, two girls are taken. After two weeks one girl escapes Magen McDonald. She becomes a celebrity while the second girl Nicole Cutty is forgotten.

That is until the body of a jumper turns up on the autopsy table of her Nicole’s sister Livia. Her autopsy reveals that the young man did not commit suicide but was murdered. In addition, Livia discovers that the young man was Nicole’s boyfriend during the summer she when she was taken.

Soon Livia sets out to discover what happened on the night Nicole was taken, on the night that Livia did not answer Nicole’s frantic call.

The tale of Nicole’ taking and Livia’s hunt are told side by side through the book. Nicole’s story is told in short flashback passages and while Livia’s in present time.

The third story that weaves its way through the book is Megan’s story. Though she has become a celebrity through a book that she wrote about her miraculous escape, she has never forgotten about Nicole. Throughout the book Megan tries to discover more and more about her taking. She is particularly interested where she was kept. Why? Because it wasn’t the bunker that she escaped from!

Bottom Line

The Girl Who Was Taken is a four and half star book for me. Maybe even a five-star book!

The story line was great. It had several twists and turns. Then, when it all came together in the final pages I couldn’t believe what I was reading!! The characters were all believable especially Livia Cutty and well Nicole, too. I really don’t think that we have heard the end of their story! As  I said in the beginning of this post I can;’ wait for Charlie’s next book.

The Girl Who Was Taken and Books Have to Call You Back!

Charlie wrote on his website that when he started out to write his books he knew that they face a lot of competition from other mediums, i.e TV, the Internet and movies. So he thought about what made him put down the remote or the mouse and pick up a book instead. He concluded that “the book has to call him back” So he has issued a challenge……..

So try them. Pick up one of my books and get into the story. Then, put it down and get on with your life. If the characters or the setting or the mystery calls you back to it, then turn off the television for a night, stow the tablet at bedtime, and read a good book. And if you’re able to figure out the twist in Summit Lake or The Girl Who Was Taken, let me know by dropping me a line. I’d love to hear from you.

Yes, both of his books did call me back! And know I didn’t figure out the twists in either of the books. How about you???? Believe me it’s worth trying!

Author’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon

 

Vicious Circle – Joe Pickett vs. the Cates Family Part 2 – C.J.Box (Joe Pickett # 17)

  By ,
Vicious Circle - C J Box

 

Earlier in the week, I finished Vicious Circle the latest book In the Joe Pickett series from C.J.Box. It’s the seventeenth book chronicling the adventures of Joe and his family. Like all of the books in the series. It’s a great read.

If you are unfamiliar with the series, Joe Pickett is a game warden living in Saddlestring Wyoming. Joe has a way of being in the wrong place at the wrong time which makes for many exciting adventures and the loss of a lot of government trucks.

Typically, somewhere along the way Joe is assisted by his friend the shadowy Nate Romanowski. Nate operates on the edges of the law and serves to offset Joe’ Dudley Do-Rightish nature.

Joe is also a family man with a wonderful wife, Marybeth and three daughters. Natural daughters Sheridan and Lucy and adopted daughter April, He even has the mother in law from hell – Missy(surname whichever man she is married to now) Missy believes that her daughter unlike herself has married down.

The Beginnings of the Vicious Circle

 

Two books ago in Endangered Joe’s adopted daughter April ran away with Rodeo Champion Dallas Cates. The Cates family is bad news. If something bad happens in the county the first people the police look for are members of the Cates family

So when Joe’s daughter April ran away with Dallas Joe was rightly upset. And when Dallas she is found beaten on by the side of the road and she ends up in the hospital. Dallas becomes the focus of Joe’s wrath. Needless to say things didn’t end well, with Dallas ending up in jail!

Now Dallas has been released from prison and he is back in Saddlestring. And He’s coming for Joe and his family!

Bottom Line

lVicious Circle like most of its predecessors, is  a four star book for me. One of the best aspects of the Joe Pickett series has been the development of the characters over the  course of the series. Joe has been Joe with a few changes through the years.

But all three of his girls have grown from little girls to young women. In addition, wife Marybeth has gone from library volunteer to the library’s head administrator.

Other characters have also changed. Nate Romanowski has gone from an ex-Seal on the run from the law to a free citizen, who may still be willing to operate outside the law. While Joe’s mother in law is now on her sixth?? husband as she continues to marry up and up. So if your willing start at the beginning and enjoy the ride.

At a minimum readmEndangered first. Now you still may be able to read and enjoy Vicious Circle without reading Endangered, but I still think it’s better if you know what happened in the first half of the vicious circle!!

iAuthor’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Goodreads:Joe Pickett Series

C J Box author of Storm Watch

About C J Box

Charles James Box Jr. is an American author of more than thirty novels. Box is the author of the Joe Pickett series, as well as several standalone novels, and a collection of short stories.

Visit the Author Page

If you like the family and character connections in this series…

You might also enjoy:

William Kent Kreuger
Michael Robotham
Michael Robotham
Peter May
  • William Kent Krueger — the Cork O’Connor series blends crime with family, history, and a strong sense of place
  • Michael Robotham — especially the Joe O’Loughlin books, where personal lives are always part of the story
  • Peter May — the Lewis Trilogy, where past, family, and landscape are tightly woven together

Book Reviews for the Last Two Books I’ve Read in May 2017.

  By

Book Reviews -Books 22 and 23 for 2017 – At Rope’s End and The Collapsing Empire

 

So my last two reads were just slightly different. The first At Rooe’s End was a typical mystery with a police detective and a forensic psychologist chasing a serial killer. The second The Collapsing Empire was a great science fiction book about the plight of the Interdependency. The one thing that they do have in common is that they are both the first book in a new series.

At Rope’s End. – (James Verraday #1) -Edward Kay  Rating: ***

 

James Verraday is a forensic psychologist who’ is not a friend of the Seattle Police Department. He currently has a lawsuit pending against the Department. But years earlier his life was turned upside down when a drunken police officer crashed into his family car. The accident left his mother dead and his sister paralyzed. After the accident the officer walked away from the accident while Verraday cried for help.

But when SPD police detective Constance MacLean comes to Verraday and asks him to help her catch a sadistic. Verraday must put his personal animosities aside for the good if the people. What follows is a typical police investigation to track down the killer.

While this was a fairly satisfying book it lacks something to make it special. There were really not a lot of twist and turns in the story  itching to keep guessing or rapidly turning the pages. Likewise, I found the lead characters ok but again they didn’t appear to be overly special.

Bottom Line

Overall I give this book three stars. Basically, At Rope’s End was just okay. But after I finishing the book, I wasn’t left yearning for the next installment in the series. Will I read book 2 of the series?The answer is probably yes. With the hope that maybe the next story will be more complex and the characters will develop a little more to my liking.

Book 22 of 2017

The Collapsing Empire one of the two reviews in this postThe Collapsing Empire – (Interdependency #1) John Scalzi  Rating: ****

 

In his new science fiction series John Scalzi has created a new empire, the Interdependency, located in a place in space-time where faster than light travel is possible. The Flow is what makes it possible. By riding the Flow, humanity has spread to innumerable other worlds. Earth has been forgotten. A new empire has risen, the Interdependency.  The Interdependency is based on the doctrine that no human colony can survive without the others. It’s a hedge against interstellar war and for the empire’s rulers it is a system of control.

While the Flow is eternal it is not static. In the past flow streams to various worlds have collapsed. Their collapse has left colonies like Earth stranded. Cardenia is crowned as the new emporex of the interdependency after the death of her father who was the current emporex. Subsequently, a discovery is made that the Flow is shifting. Various streams may collapse leaving many human outposts stranded. Joining together a scientist, a starship captain and the new emperox of the Interdependency must join together in a race against time to salvage what they can from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse.

Bottom Line

I really enjoy the books of John Scalzi and The Collapsing Empire is no exception. John Scalzi’s book are usually steeped in hard science but his characters are, typically, very human. They are ones that you can root for. like the new emporex Cardenia aka Greyland II. Unlike At Rope’s End, The Collapsing Empire left me wanting more. So I can’t wait for book two of the Interdependency series.

I give The Collapsing Empire four stars.I liked everything about this book. The story is good, the character are engaging, and the Interdependency and the Flow are intriguing creations. So Check it Out as for me I need to go back and catch up on Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series!

 Book 23 of 2017

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Edward Kay and John Scalzi

John Scalzi’s Website, Goodreads

Edward Kay – Crooked Lane Books, Goodreads

Mid-May 2017 Reading Challenges Update

  By

Mid-May Reading Challenge Update…

Ok so I really must apologize for not posting here for a fairly long time. But just because I haven’t posted doesn’t mean that I haven’t been reading or listening. So in the next few posts I will try to catch up and then maybe get back on a more regular schedule for posting.

My April – May Reads

in my last post about reading I presented the four books that I planned to read in the remaining days of April and on into May. The four books were: Exit West by Moshin Hamid, The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu, The Nowhere Man from Gregg Hurwitz and The Fifth Element by Jorgon Brekke

I read three out of the four planned reads. The only book that I didn’t read among those books was The Fifth Element.which will go on my list of books that I want to read.

So here are the books I read in April…..

[powr-image-slider id=d9c4c713_1494950631]

The books shown above are books number 18 through 21, on my list of books read in 2017.

Early May Reads

In May so far I have read two more books.The first one was Ast Rope’s End by Edward Kay, which is a murder mystery. It is the first books in a series that features forensic psychologist James Verraday. The second one was The Collapsing Empire by one of my favorite Sci-Fi authors John Scalzi. It is also the first book in a series title The Interdependency.

My 2017 Reading Challenges Totals to Date….

 

The total number of books I have read in 2017 now stands at 23. The following table breaks down the books according to my various 2017 Reading Challenges.

2017 Reading Challenge Kindle Bookshelves Library Total Goal % of Goal
2017 Literature Reading Challenge
General Fiction 0 1 2 3 2 150%
Classics (Books I should have read but didn’t) 0 0 0 0 2 0%
Award-Winners 0 0 1 1 2 50%
Sub-total 6
2017 Mystery/Thriller Reading Challenge
Mystery – New Series 1 0 8 9 6 150%
Series that I am behind on (i.e. Gabriel Allon) 1 1 0 2 6 33%
Current Mystery Authors (series or non-series) 1 1 1 3 12 25%
New Mystery Authors 0 0 1 1 12 8%
Sub-total
2017 Science Fiction /Fantasy Challenge 0 1 1 3 6 50%
2017 Nonfiction Reading Challenge 0 1 0 1 12
Totals 3 5 14 23 60 38%
2016 Kindle/Bookshelf Challenge 20 20 20 60

 

Proposed Reads for the Remainder of May

 

Here are four of the books that I have out of the library. They are my proposed reads for the rest of the month.

Fiction Reads

Marked for Life - Emelie ScheppMarked for Life – Emelie Schepp – I currently have Emelie Schepp’s Marked for Revenge checked out of the library. I checked it out mainly because on the cover it says that she is the 2016 Swedish Crime Novelist of the Year. That is good enough for me! Anyway when I picked it up today while writing this post I discovered that it is the second book in a trilogy. As a result I went to my library’s card catalog found Marked for Life and it will soon be winging its way to me!

Vicious Circle - C J BoxVicious Circle – C.J. Box – Vicious Circle is book 17 in the Joe Pickett series from C.J.Box. This is one of my favorite series going today. On its cover Lee Child writes “One of today’s solid-gold, A-list, must-read writers“. And I certainly agree with that statement. I love each story but most of all I love the characters. Joe and his family along with Nate Romanowski make for a good time!

The other two books are both non- fiction. I am way behind in my non-fiction reading. So I hope that I can at least finish one or both of them this month.

Non-Fiction Reads

 

The Telomere EffectThe first is The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Long by Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD and Elissa Epel, PhD  Dr. Blackwell discovered telomerase and telomere’s role in the aging process. Dr Epel is a health psychologist. She has done original research into how specific lifestyle and psychological habits can protect telomeres. This in turn slows disease and improves life! I started this book a while back and it is very interesting. Maybe it will help me in my quest to slow down my biologic clock!

Aging Backwards - Miranda Esmonde-WhiteThe second book is Aging Backwards: Reverse the Aging Process and Look 10 Years Younger in 30 minutes a day! It looks like this book will be a pretty quick read. Mainly, because a lot of the book is composed of photos illustrating the exercises that make up the eight Age-Reversing Workouts presented in the book. The author of the book is Miranda Esmonde-White. Esmonde-White is best known for her PBS fitness show Classic Stretch which has been on the air since 1999.Ms. Esmonde-White created the Essentrics technique. Essentrics uses low-intensity strength and stretch exercises to relieve pain, prevent pain and slenderize the body. Sound like a winning combination to me. I can’t wait to get started!!

Four Reading Challenge Reads for the Rest of April

  By

 

Four Reads for the Remainder of April……

 

In my post for The Blood Strand, I indicated that I have currently read 18 books on a goal of 60 books. So to stay on pace I only need to read two more books before the end of the month. That should be doable! Here are four books that I am currently reading or plan to read over the next few weeks

 

Exit West - Mohsin Hamid

 

Exit West – Mohsin Hamid

One of my individual Reading Challenges is to read the Literature Reading Challenge. This challenge is to move me a little out of my comfort zone and challenges me to read books that I just don’t read. Knowing that I am not going to read a lot of general fiction the goal is to only read six books of this type. I have already read one All That Man Is by David Szalay.

One of the things that I always do when I do read literature is that I go and look at the Book Club questions regarding the book. I find that I seldom think about the book enough to answer the questions. I tend to read for the story itself and not the meaning behind the words. Maybe this time I will look at the book club questions before and while I am reading. Maybe that will work out a little better. Ya think!

Anyway, here is some info about the book, even though I believe it needs no introduction to most readers….

In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet—sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors—doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through. Read More

The Lives of Tao - Wesley ChuThe Lives of Tao – Wesley Chu

Another of my Reading Challenges  is my Science Fiction Challenge. The goal of that challenge is also six books. I created this challenge a few years ago because I enjoy SciFi and often don’t read books from that genre.So the challenge is a way to encourage me to read more of science fiction books…

I have looked at this series for a while now and never started it. But I used some Christmas money to buy the Kindle version and have been enjoying it!

From Goodreads….

When out-of-shape IT technician Roen woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it. He wasn’t. He now has a passenger in his brain – an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now split into two opposing factions – the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix – the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries. Both sides are searching for a way off-planet, and the Genjix will sacrifice the entire human race, if that’s what it takes. Meanwhile, Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that’s going to end up well…More 

 

The Nowhere Man - Gregg HurwitzThe Nowhere Man – Gregg Hurwitz

This is book two in the Orphan X series from Gregg Hurwitz. In Orphan X Hurwitz introduced Evan Smoak aka Orphan X. Taken from a group home at twelve Evan was trained to be a highly skilled off the books operative i.e. and assassin. But he left the program, disappeared and reinvented himself as the Nowhere Man. As the Nowhere Man he helps save the truly desperate. His only charge is that they pass his name onto someone who is also truly desperate!

In Orphan X Evan is marked for elimination hunted by a  follow Orphan. In this installment Evan is captured drugged and held captive in a remote location in Switzerland. Can Evan escape from his virtual cage? or are the opposing numbers and resources too much even for Evan! I’ll put my money on Evan! But maybe he’ll need some help??? I don’t know!

 

The Fifth Element - Jorgen BrekkeThe Fifth Element (Odd Singsaker #3) – Jorgen Brekke

The Fifth Element is the third book in the Odd Singsker series from Jorgen Brekke. It was not on my pile of books to be read this month until I saw it at the library last week! Brekke;’s first two books Where Monsters Dwell and Dreamless were both terrific and I couldn’t pass up this latest when I saw it!

From Goodreads:

Police Inspector Odd Singsaker has been captured, imprisoned on an island off the Northern coast of Norway. He wakes to find himself holding a shotgun. Next to him is a corpse. But what events led him to this point? And how did he get here?

A few weeks earlier, Felicia, his wife, disappeared. Though he didn’t know it, she was trying to find her way back to Odd to reconcile, but then she vanished into a snowstorm. Possibly involved is a corrupt, coldblooded cop from Oslo, a devious college student who’s stolen a great deal of cocaine from drug dealers, and a hit man hired by the drug dealers who have been robbed. All of these lives intersect with Odd’s as he searches for Felicia. More

It’s been almost two years since I read Dreamless book two in this series. I had forgotten that Dreamless left meI wanting to know what was going to happen between Odd and Felicia! Looks like a book or two is going to take a back seat to this one!!

 

 

Four Great 2017 March Reads

  By

Three Mysteries and a Historical Fiction Highlight My March Reads

 

  In March, I mainly focused on exercise. I worked hard to increase the intensities of my workouts. In addition to adding more movement to my morning exercise routine, I added anywhere from five to fifteen minutes of dance to the beginning of the routine. I also continued to run. However, because of the weather and some other commitments, I ran less days in March than I did in February. The good news is that I lost five pounds!   The bad news is that I didn’t read as many books as the previous two months!

Still, I managed to read four books, which brought the total number of books read to 17. That kept me two books ahead of pace to reach my goal of 60 books for 2017. Below are the four books that I read…..

 Chris Holm and Ward Larsen authors of Red Right Hand and Assassin’s Silence are authors who I discovered this year. While Michael Koryta author of Rise the Dark has been a favorite of mine for several years.

 If we were to play a game of which book is different from the other, The Last Days of Night would win. While I enjoy historical fiction, it is a genre that I only dabble in! But, because Moore did such a great job bringing the feud between Edison and Westinghouse alive, I may need to do more dabbling in the future.

March Reads – Mysteries……

 

Rise the Dark - Michael Koryta

Rise the Dark (Mark Novak #2) – Michael Koryta

Author’s Website

I must admit that I had a little trouble getting into this novel.The story starts with two story lines. First there is a kidnapping of a young wife  in Montana.  Meanwhile in Florida, the main character Mark Novak finds out that the man the he believes murder his wife is being released from prison. The man, Garland Webb, who was never tried for the murder of Novak’s wife had been serving a prison sentence for assault of a different woman. Upon his release he sends Novak a note concerning the murder of Mark’s wife that sets Mark on Webb’s trail with revenge on this mind!

Soon the ransom for the wife is that her husband a high-wire electrical worker must do a task for a Eli Pate, an environmental fanatic that will create havoc in the western states of the US! Soon Webb and an associate are off to Montana to join Pate with Novak on their trial. Can Mark stop them before Pate releases his havoc??

When I started reading Rise the Dark I forgot that it is the second book in the Mark Novak series. I had pre-ordered the Kindle edition of the book several months before its release. I figured I had plenty oof time to read the first book Last Words before Rise the Dark was released. Wrong! But Last Words is now on my to be read bookshelf!!

Anyway back to Rise the Dark. I  really did like the book and found it to be a real page  turner right up until the end. I liked the main character Marcus Novak and his dysfunctional family. Once the story got going it was great! I thought the end, which has a sad surprise was done well. I also look forward to reading Last Words, because even though Rise the Dark stood on its own, I am interested in seeing what happened to Mark in his first adventure,

Rating: Four Thumbs Up out of Five!

 

Red Right Hand - Chris Holm one of my March Reads

Red Right Hand (Michael Hendricks #2) – Chris Holm

Author’s Website

Unlike Rise the Dark , Red Right Hand started off with a bang – literally! Moments before a tugboat loaded with explosives crashes into the Golden Gate Bridge a young family set out to make a video as an anniversary present for their parents and grandparents. They asked a disheveled man to take the picture. When he starts the video he has the camera backwards filming himself first. He then turns the camera around and films not only the family but the terrorist attack.

When the video goes viral FBI Agent Charlene Thompson realizes that the man in the video is a major informant against the crime organization the Council who had stumbled into the Phoenix FBI office three years earlier. He claimed was the Red Right Hand and he was set to bring the council down. But prior to his testimony he was thought to have been killed in an explosion at the FBI office! So now Thompson turns to killer for hire Michael Hendricks to find and save the informant before the Council can eliminate him!

Unlike Rise the Dark I have read The Killing Kind book one  of the Michael Hendricks series and I do believe that it really helps to have done so before reading Red Right Hand. The Killing Kind establishes the relationship between both Charlene Thompson and Hendricks and Hendricks and the Council.

The bottom line though is that Red Right Hand is another winner from Chris Holm. The Killing Kind won several awards including an Anthony Award. Red Right Hand should bring him more awards, accolades and fans!

Rating : Four Thumbs up out of Five!

Assassin's Silence - Ward Larsen

Assassin’s Silence (David Slaton #3) – Ward Larsen

Author’s Website

Assassin’s Silence like Rise the Dark took some time to get into.. Similar to Rise the Dark, two story lines open the book. The first story line revolves around the purchase and reconditioning of an abandoned airplane in Brazil. The buyers obviously plan use it in a terrorist attack. While in the second ex-Mossad assassin David Slaton’s is leading a quiet life as a stone mason after the events that transpired in Assassin’s Game. But his quiet life is disrupted, by an elite special forces team that is sent to kill him!

 Soon Slaton is fleeing across Europe with the team hot on his trail! David fears not only for his own life, but for that of his wife and son who for their own protection think that David is dead. So to protect them he asks a follow ex-Mossad agent to stay with them and protect them. But that may not be a good to do!!

Eventually, both stories intertwine and it’s a wild ride to the finish! Assassin’s Silence is book three in the David Slaton series.  I have read and enjoyed both of them. I still need to read book one The Perfect Assassin though because I still think I’ve missed something. Like how did it come about that,  at the start of Assassin’s Game, an Ex-Mossad  assassin was living life as a stonemason in Virginia!

Bottom line is again that Assassin’s Silence was a page-turner for me once the story got crank up. I like the character of David Slaton. Like Michael Hendricks he is a man who does what he does. He may not like what he does but he knows that he has to do it to survive. I also liked that Larsen brought a character Jammer Davis, from another of his series, into the story. As an aircraft crash investigator, he fit right into the story!!

Rating: Four Thumps Up Out of Five

So now it’s on to April’s reads. I just finished my first book in April The Blood Strand -(Faroes #1) by Chris
Ould and like the above it was a good one! I am also about 30% through a science fiction book The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu that I am also enjoying!!

March Reads – Historical Fiction…..

Last Days of Night - Graham Moore

Last Days of Night – Graham Moore

Author’s Website

Since I have rambled on for far too long in this post I will tell you that you can find my full review of Last Days of Night here. Last Days of Night is a novel about the rivalry between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. It brought alive their legal battle over electricity that I knew very little about!

The Last Days of Night – Graham Moore

  By

The Last Days of Night – Graham Moore

 

The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore is in the words of Gillian Flynn….

“Mesmerizing, clever, and absolutely crackling, The Last Days of Night is a triumph of imagination.  Graham Moore has chosen the Gilded Age of New York as his playground, with outstanding characters – Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse – as hi players. The result is a beautifully researched , endlessly entertaining novel that will leave you buzzing.”

I confess that I have never read much about Thomas Edison. That’s probably not a good thing for a fellow New Jerseyian to say is it? Of course I know all about all the cool things that Edison invented like the light bulb and phonograph, What I didn’t know about are the things that form the basis of this fantastic book. Those things being Edison’s law suits 312 of them against George Westinghouse and the battle wage by those two inventors over Alternating and Direct current.

 

While Edison and Westinghouse are prominent characters in this book, the main character is Paul Cravath… a young lawyer who has been hired by Westinghouse tto defend him in the lawsuits. Young Cravath while a member of a prestigous law firm has little experience and virtually no clients. The precise reason Westinghouse chose him to be his lawyer! As Young tries to find a way to win an unwinnable case against one of the most prominent men in America, he mets some interesting people. He hires the brilliant but eccentric Nikola Tesla away from Edison. Tesla brings his invention of Alternating Current to the Westinghouse Corporation. Paul also gets a second client the beautiful Opera singer Agnes Huntington.Together they try to save the Westinghouse corporation from bankruptcy! And to take down Thomas Edison!

Bottom Line

The Last Days of Night was a well researched and well-written book. Moore made all the characters in this wild time in American history come alive.In his notes at the end of the book Moore:  references Empires of light : Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the race to electrify the world by Jill Jonnes as one of his main sources of information about Edison and Westinghouse and the fight that was the foundation of this book. (Note: After I wrote the above, I checked the availability of the book at my libary. It was available at the branch library I was going to this afternoon. Needless to say the book is now on my TBR pile.)

So Check it Out! I’ll leave you with more words of praise. This time it’s from author Scott Turow…

“The Last Days of Night” is a wonder, a riveting historical novel that is part legal thriller, part techno-suspense. This fast-paced story about the personal and legal clash over the invention of the light bulb is a tale of larger-than-life characters and devious doings, and a significant meditation on the price we as a society pay for new technology…… Thoughful and hugely entertaining”

Book 14 of 2017    Rating **** (4.25 stars)

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Graham Moore

Author’s Website
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Amazon

 

 

 

 

Assassin’s Game by Ward Larsen is a Home Run!

  By ,

Assassin’s Game – Ward Larsen (David Slaton #2)

 

I went to the library a couple of times last week to pick up books that I had on hold. I of course had to look at the new books, while I was there. One of the new books, Assassin’s Silence by Ward Larsen caught my eye. I had never seen the book before and was unfamiliar with the author. Anyway I picked it up and read the rave reviews on the back and decided that it was my type of book!.

I discovered, when I got home, that it was only book three in the David Slaton series. I went to my library’s website and discovered that they didn’t have book one in the series but they did have book two Assassin’s Game. One of the copies that they had was an e-book. That was fine with me. It saved me a trip to the library! It  also meant that I could start it quicker! So start it I did and it was a real page-turner for me! I loved the book and finished it in a couple of days!

About Ward Larsen

 

Since the release of The Perfect Assassin in 2004. Ward Larsen has released seven more novels. Two of those Stealing Trinity and The Messenger are stand alone thrillers. Of the remaining five books, three are part of the Jammer Davis and two are part of the David Slaton series. Jammer Davis is an aircraft accident investigator and of course David Slaton is an assassin.

Ward Larsen is  former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Larsen flew over twenty missions in  Operation Desert Storm. He has served as a federal law enforcement officer, airline captain, and is a trained aircraft accident investigator. Larsen is also a three-time winner of the
Florida Book Award. And I better get started on The Perfect Assassin because it is currently being adapted into a major motion picture by Amber Entertainment!

About Assassin’s Game

 

David Slaton is a kidon or assassin for Israel’s Mossad. In Assassin’s Game, Slaton is brought back into the game by Mossad. His target is an Iranian scientist who is one the verge of providing Iran a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile. Mossad has made several attempts to kill the scientist, but they are thwarted each time, by Iranian intelligence. Because they fear there is a traitor supplying Iran information about the hits, a decision to go outside their service is made. Since the world thinks that David Slaton is dead he is the perfect choice for the assignment.

But David is living a quiet life in the Virginia suburbs. He has a new wife and is adjusting nicely to that life. After David’s ex-Mossad boss’s meeting with David’s wife in Sweden, ends in a shoot out and David’s wife’s disappearance, David is forced back into the game, to save his wife and to keep the bomb from Iran. The shoot-out in Stockholm left his boss in a coma and several agents dead. And it put a Swedish police detective on David’s trail!

Bottom Line:

Assassin’s Game was a terrific page-turner! I loved all of the well-drawn characters. David Slaton and Swedish detective Arne Sanderson are both characters that you could root for! The storyline was superb. with some twists and turns that I didn’t see coming!! It kept me guessing right up until the final pages. Bravo Mr. Larsen!

It’s been many years since I read Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal, but I agree with Stephen Coonts who wrote…..

“Ward Larsen has written a stunning thriller, one that ranks right up there with The Day of the Jackal. Frankly, this is the best nail-biting suspense novel I’ve read in years.”

So Check it Out! As for me I can’t wait to get started on some of Larsen’s other books. I already have Assassin’s Silence checked out of the library now. So I can I can start that right away, while I’m searching for those Jammer David books!!

Book 13 for 2017 – Rating: **** (five-stars)

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Ward Larsen

Author’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon

2017 Reading Challenges Mini-Update (Feb 6, 2017)

  By

 

An Amazing Start on My 2017 Reading Challenges

 

Ok so I do believe that I would be hard pressed to find two months in the last 15 years where I have read more books than January and February of 2017. In January I read  books and so far in February I have read three more! Bringing 2017’s total of books read to 11! In order to achieve my 2017 Reading Challenge goal of 60 books, I need to average 5 books per month.  I am already above that average in the first week of February!! Goodreads says that right now I am 5 books ahead of schedule! Woo Hoo!

Now the one bad thing about this is that I have been reading more than writing. Consequently, I am  seven books behind in writing reviews. The table below lists that books that I have read so far this year. (The links are to my review of the book)

No Title Author
11 Black Widow Chris Brookmyre
10 All That Man Is David Szalay
9 A Foreign Country Charles Cumming
8 Livia Lone Barry Eisler
7 Ruler of the Night David Morrell
6 A Puzzle in a Pear Tree Parnell Hall
5 How to Run the World Parag Khanna
4 The Lazarus War – Artefact Jamie Sawyer
3 The Killing Kind Chris Holm
2 In the Midst of Death Lawrence Block
1 The Critic Peter May

 

I am going to group the books according to the Reading Challenge that they fit into. So the future posts will look like this:

2017 Mystery/Thriller Reading Challenge

 Series that are new to me

Jack Parlabane – Chris Brookmyre – Black Widow
Thomas Kell – Charles Cumming – A Foreign Country
Livia Lone – Barry Eisler – Livia Lone

Series that I am Behind on/ Series that I am Current with

Puzzle Lady – Parnell Hall  – A Puzzle in a Pear Tree – 
Thomas De Quncey -David Morrell –  Ruler of the Night –

2017 Literature Reading Challenge/ Nonfiction Reading Challenge

General Fiction

All that Man is – David Szalay

Nonfiction

How to Run the World – Parag Khanna

So now I’m off to pick out my next few books and start to read!!! Be back later with the first of the above posts!!