Category: Books-Fiction

Inspector of the Dead – David Morrell

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Inspector of the Dead – David Morrell and 1855 London Perfect Together!

 

David Morrell - Author of the Inspector of the Dead

David Morrell has been a top mystery and thriller author since his debut novel First Blood released in 1971, introduced the world to John Rambo!

I have enjoyed Morrell’s books since 1984’s release The Brotherhood of the Rose. All total Morrell has written twenty-eight novels, and his work has been translated into twenty-six languages

While I have enjoyed Morrell’s books through the years, I never thought that any of them were as good as The Brotherhood of the Rose or the novels that followed The Fraternity of the Stone and The League of Night and Fog, that is until 2013 and the release of Murder As A Fine Art.

Murder As a Fine Art was a wonderful historical murder mystery set in 1850s London featuring Thomas De Quincey, known as The Opium-Eater and author of an essay titled “On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts”   and his daughter Emily.

In March of 2015 the second book in the series Inspector of the Dead was released and this week it became the 24th book I’ve read in 2015 and one of my favorites of the year!

The Story

The beginning of Inspector of the Dead finds De Quincey and his daughter still in London following the events of Murder as a Fine Art. While attending church on a Sunday morning they are present when the body of Lady Cosgrove is discovered with her throat slashed! In her hand is a note with the name Young London on it.

Soon after her husband and her family’s servants are found murdered in their home with a note that held the name Edward Oxford.Both names were associated with past attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria!

Soon other members of the aristocracy are murdered in very public places cards with names of past men who have tried to kill the queen! As De Quincey and Scotland Yard detectives gather clues to help solve the crimes it appears that the ultimate target of the killer may be the Queen!!

Bottom Line:

Inspector of the Dead is definitely a 4 to 5 star book for me. The pages just flew by and I literally couldn’t put the book down. Morrell has done a terrific job of creating incredible characters in De Quincey and his daughter Emily, as well as the rest of the cast.

In addition Morrell’s writing vividly creates a London in a turbulent time. The Crimean War was not going well. and the government has collapsed leaving the country without a Prime Minister! In my mind Morrell has also made a brutal murderer a sympathetic character and while you can not forgive the killer for what they did, you can understand how they were driven to it! So Check It Out!

About David Morrell

sdaVID mORRELL

Links

Author’s Website
Facebook
x
Goodreads
Amazon

David Morrell is the critically author of First Blood, the novel in which Rambo was created. He holds a Ph. D. in American literature from Penn State and was a professor in the English department at the University of Iowa. His numerous New York Times bestsellers include the classic spy novel, The Brotherhood of the Rose(the basis for the only television mini-series to be broadcast after a Super Bowl). An Edgar and Anthony finalist, a Nero and Macavity winner, Morrell is a recipient of three Bram Stoker awards from the Horror Writers Association and the prestigious Thriller Master award from the International Thriller Writers organization. His writing book, The Successful Novelist: A Lifetime of Lessons about Writing and Publishing, discusses what he has learned in his more than four decades as an author. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexic

 

David Morrell: The Brotherhood of the Rose and more

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David Morrell

David Morrell – The Mortalist, Frank Balenger, and   Thomas De Quincey series

So back in the 1980s (Ok think about that Edward the 1980s were 35 years ago! Ouch! When you were 14 in 1965 would you have thought about anything that happened in 1930 as anything but ancient history? Nope!) I read a lot of thrillers from the likes of Robert Ludlum, Clive Cussler, Bill Granger (November Man), Richard Hoyt and others. And right up there with the best of them were books from David Morrell. Morrell’s 1972 debut novel was First Blood was adapted into Sylvester Stallone’s movie Rambo.

My three favorite books from David Morrell were The Brotherhood of the Rose, The Fraternity of the Stone and The League of Night and Fog. The sad thing is that aside from the fact that I remember that I really liked the books, I remember little bit about them. I rarely read books a second time but thinking about how much I liked the books starts me thinking may I should read at least The Brotherhood of the Rose again! I do remember that The Brotherhood of the Rose was made into TV a mini-series that I thought starred Richard Chamberlain. In looking it up on IMDb I see that it started Peter Strauss, Robert Mitchum and Connie Sellecca. Richard Chamberlain starred as Jason Bourne in a TV Mini-series based on Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity. I never watched either of the series!

About The Brotherhood of the Rose from Goodreads:

They were orphans, Chris and Saul–raised in a Philadelphia school for boys, bonded by friendship, and devoted to a mysterious man called Eliot. He visited them and brought them candy. He treated them like sons. He trained them to be assassins. Now he is trying desperately to have them killed.

Spanning the globe and full of heart-stopping action, The Brotherhood of the Rose is an astonishing novel of fierce loyalty and violent betrayal, of murders planned and coolly executed, of revenge bitterly, urgently desired. More

Through the years I’ve read several more books by David Morrell and I enjoyed them all but none have even been as good as the three books from above. That is until 2013’s Murder as a Fine Art set in 1850s London Morrell wrote a terrific book using The Opium Eater Thomas De Quincey and his daughter Emily as the lead characters! Read More Here.  The conclusion of that book left me and many other readers clamoring for more! In March Morrell released The Inspector of the Dead making me and others very happy campers!  In this installment De Quincey and Emily are still in London and end up in the midst of a killing spree targeting the aristocrats of London. Cards left by the murderers reference members of Young England that have attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria. Could the queen be the ultimate target?  I just picked up the book on Friday, couldn’t put it down and have already finished it!! The review of the book will be forthcoming. In the meantime here is a list of the other books that I have read from the pen of David Morrell……Check him out!!

David Morrell Books I’ve Read
Title My Rating Average Rating* Original Publication Year Date Read
Inspector of the Dead 4 05/10/15
Murder as a Fine Art 5 3.84 2013 2013/07/23
The Shimmer 4 3.31 2009 2009/08/08
Scavenger 4 3.56 2007 2007/07/01
Creepers 4 3.59 2005 2005/09/01
Assumed Identity 3 3.77 1993 1994/05/12
The Covenant of the Flame 4 3.92 1991 1991/05/18
The Fifth Profession 4 3.94 1969 1990/06/02
The League of Night and Fog 4 4.06 1987 1987/01/01
The Fraternity Of The Stone 4 4.14 1985 1986
The Brotherhood Of The Rose 4 4.13 1983 1985

* Goodreads – rating is out of 5

Reading Challenge Update and Reads May 2015

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May Reading Challenge Update

April 2015 was a great reading month for me as I finished seven books!! Woo! Hoo! May has not gotten off to a bad start either I have already finished two books. What Then Must We Do? by Gar Alperovitz and Dance of Death from the dynamic duo of Preston & Child

What Then Must We Do? is treatise on what we need to do in the future to try to fix our broken economic system. It delves into what we can do to democratize the ownership of wealth in our nation to strengthen our communities and our nation!! It is book 4 on a goal of 11 in my nonfiction reading challenge and book number 20 for 2015! Review

Dance of Death from the writing team of Preston & Child is the sixth book in the Pendergrast series and the second to feature Pendergrast’s evil brother Diogenes. After finishing the book I shook my head and thought why has it been on m TBR pile for so long!! The book s number 12 on a goal of 23 in my 2015 Clock & Dagger Reading Challenge and number 8 of 25 in my TBR Pile Challenge!! Review

Proposed May Reading Challenge Books

So that’s where I am currently. The following are the books that I plan to read in May of 2015. The operative word is plan. Four out of the five books are in excess of 400 pages, so I can see the possibility of a couple slipping into my June reads!! Which is what happened already to Larry Niven and Gregory Benford‘s Bowl of Heaven. It’s not that I don’t like it, but the action moves along fairly slowly and other books like Endangered from C.J. Box and Dance of Death hooked me and I couldn’t put them down!! So along with Bowl of Heaven I plan to read….

BrimstoneBrimstone

Book 5 of the Pendergrast Series and Book 1 of Diogenes

2015 Cloak & Dagger and TBR Pile Challenges

I should have read this one before Dance of Death – My bad!!

2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge Book How to Read the Solar System

How to Read the Solar System

Chris North and Paul Abel

Hosts of the Sky at Night

“This fascinating read supported by the latest research will engage and enchant. Recommended for anyone with an interest in astronomy and fans of the show Cosmos with Neil deGrasse Tyson.” (Library Journal)

2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge -The Smoke at Dawn

The Smoke at Dawn

Jeff Shaara

2015 Historical Fiction Challenge

“Civil War history fiends will be riveted.”—Parade

Let’s Hope!

Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge - The Devils Punchbowl

The Devil’s Punchbowl

Greg Isles

2015 Cloak & Dagger and TBR :Pile Challenges

“A knockout thriller that’s just the right degree of chilly to combat the dog days of summer… Iles’ knack for perfectly integrating character and plot could serve as a master’s class for other authors.” — The Dallas Morning News

I read and loved the first two Penn Cage Novels and with two more beyond this one, I think it’s time to catch up on the series.

Now those are the five planned reads, but that can always change when my ADD brain starts to wander. In fact it may already change because the new David Morrell book Inspector of the Dead, which I requested from my library,just came in! Oh My!!

 

Reading Challenge From TBR Pile Buy/Library Total Goal %complete
2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge 0 4 4 11 36%
2015 Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge 5 7 12 23 52%
2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 1 1 2 5 40%
2015 Science Fiction/Fantasy Challenge 2 1 3 12 25%
Totals 8 13 21 51 41%
2015 TBR Pile Challlenge 8 25 32%
Currently Reading Challenge From Page Total %complete
Bowl of Heaven – Benford and Niven Science Fiction Library 182 412 44%
Brimstone _Preston & Child Cloak & Dagger TBR Pile 96 497 19%
How to Read the Solar System-Nortth&Abel Nonfiction Library 86 304 28%
The Smoke at Dawn – Jeff Shaara Historical Fiction Library 5 495 1%
The Devil’s Punchbowl- Greg Iles Cloak & Dagger TBR Pile 38 577 7%

Dance of Death – Preston & Child

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Dance of Death – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Book 6 of Pendergast Series Books 2 of Diogenes

 

So I am not sick that often so when I am I really hate it!! The last two days have been spent nursing a bad cold. Yesterday I flt like I had been run over by a Mack Truck, Today I was better and the damage was done  by a pesky little Mini-Cooper which I believe just keeps circling the block and running me over just about the time that I think that I have this thing knocked!!

The only good thing about yesterday was that I finished Book 21 of 2015 Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Dance of Death is Book # 6 of t  the Aloysius Pendergast series and the second book to feature his twisted  sibling Diogenes. Dance of Death, along with The Book of Death and Cemetery Dance. I thought were the books in the trilogy that features Diogenes Pendergrast. Aloysus’ evil sibling.. Not!! In actuality, while Dance of Death is Book 6 and The Book of Death is Book 7, Cemetery Dance is Book 9!!

About Dance of Death

It didn’t take long  while I was reading Dance of Death to realize that it was the second book in the sub-series, but by the time I did figure it out, I was engrossed enough in the book that I just kept reading!! Actually Book 5 of the Pendergast series and Book 1 of the Diogenes series, Brimstone is also on my TBR pile. Needless to say it is one of the books that I plan to read in May. In fact I am already on page 74!! Dance of Death is only the third book in the Pendergast series that began with Relic which is the first Preston & Child book that I have read. I read it back in 1997 ,when it was only two years old!!  The last one I read was Still Life with Crows (Book 4). Both books were great!

Other Books I’ve read By Preston and Child

But while I have not kept up with the Pendergast series, through the years, I have read other works by these authors. One of the books is Book 1 of the Gideon Crew series Gideon’s Sword, which they co-authored. The other three books that I read were all from Douglas Preston two novels Mount Dragon and The Codex and one nonfiction work The Monster Florence which chronicles Preston’s real life adventures with a serial killer in Italy, which even resulted in his arrest!! (Note to self- there are no Lincoln Child books on your Goodreads bookshelf, get cracking!)

The inside flap of Dance of Death describes the book perfectly

Two Brothers,
One a top FBI agent,
the other a brilliant,
twisted criminal

An  undying hatred
between them,

Now, a perfect crime.

And the
ultimate challenge:
stop me if you can….

Bottom line:

Dance of Death is certainly a four star plus book (out of five)  for me. Aloysius Pendergast is certainly one of the most original and well-drawn characters in the mystery genre! Why I have let these books sit on my TBR pile for so long is beyond me!! I think I say that every time I read one of these books! Let’s see there are 14 books in the series. I have read 3 of the books that leaves 11 unread. At the rate of one book a month, I should be almost a year catching up on the series!, at which time, I’m sure there will be a new book or two!

Links for Further Explorations of Preston & Child

The Official Website of Preston & Child
Facebook
Amazon: Preston & Child<
Amazon: Lincoln Child
Goodreads: Douglas Preston 

Endangered by C. J. Box Joe Pickett Series # 15

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Endangered - C.J. Box Joe Pickett

 

Stealing an idea for a friend of Goodreads, I am going to start this review with the first paragraph of Endangered the latest Joe Pickett novel from C.J. Box….

When Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett received the call every parent dreads, he was standing knee-high in thick sagebrush, counting the carcasses of sage grouse. He was up to twenty-one

That simple paragraph sets the stage for the whole book and tells the new reader a lot about Joe Pickett. For those who don’t know Joe it lets you know that he lives in Wyoming and he is a game warden, but it also tells you that he is a caring parent Throughout the fifteen plus books in the series, Joe’s wife Mary Beth and children Sheridan, Lucy and April have been there, along with Joe’s mother-in-law Missy.now Templeton and Joe’s right-hand man and the families protector Nate Romanowski..If you do know Joe you know that the presence of those dead sage grouse will not make Joe happy and he won’t quit until h discovers who killed them. Oh and also that their slaughter may be associated with the book’s title Endangered.

The call Joe received told him that a young girl was found badly beaten in a roadside ditch and she looked like his adopted daughter April. April had runaway a while back with a young rodeo star Dallas Cates. Joe never liked Dallas who was a member of a family that Joe has had numerous run ins with as game warden. Dallas of course is the prime suspect and Joe is out to make sure he pays for his crime!!

Meanwhile Joe’s friend Nate Romanowski, an ex-special forces soldier is set to be released from prison and used as bait to flush out the missing Wolfgang Templeton whose murder for hire business Nate had worked for (see Stone Cold) Soon after Nate is released he is ambushed and shot!!

Soon Joe has a lot of problems – will April survive and did Dallas beat her? To solve that puzzle Joe has to go up against the Cates family and that is no easy task. Led by Mama Brenda the family is about as dysfunctional as you can get. Dallas brother Bull lost his livelihood thanks to you know who – yes Joe Pickett.and brother Timber is in prison!!

Joe also has to worry about Nate. Could what happen to Nate and April be related??? And don’t forget those sage grouse. The species were ready to be placed on the endangered species list so a lot of people have a reason to eliminate members of the dwindling species, but who did it??

Joe won’t quit until he finds out and this time finding out just may cost Joe his life!!

Bottom Line: Endangered is a winner!! Several books ago I set aside Cold Wind. I just couldn’t get into it and I thought that I would quit this series. But since then C J Box has come back roaring with four great books and Endangered may be the best of the four! Bookpage says….

“C.J. Box moves from strength to strength with each new installment. I would say that he is at the top of his form, but the top just keeps moving ever upward”

How true. Endangered was a real page-turner for me. The plot kept me in suspense to the last pages, and of course the characters that Pickett has created along the way are a vivid and real as it gets. You know, it’s hard some time to remember that Joe and his family are not real!! Since I have to wait a bit for the next Joe Picket book I think I’ll check out The Highway a stand alone that features Cody Hoyt from previous Joe Pickett books!!.’

Links for Further Explorations of C J Box

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon

April 2015 Reads and Reading Challenges Update!

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Update: April 2015 Reads and Reading Challenges 

 

It’s time to update my reading for the month of April and to look forward to next months reads. To say that as far as reading goes April was a good month is a vast understatement. It was an exceptional reading month, as I finished SEVEN books! That brings my total of 2015 up to  19! Way, way above the average over the last several years!! Now all I have to do is keep it going!!

Here are the books that I read in April 2015 – The big three are The Chessmen, Dreamless and Endangered. While the other were good these three were great!! I haven’t posted my review yet of C J Box’s Endangered but it will be coming soon!!

Books Read in April 2015
Title Challenge Source
When Gods Die – C.S. Harris Historical Fiction Library
The Chessmen – Peter May Cloak & Dagger Library
On Writing– Stephen King 2015 Nonfiction TBR Pile
Dreamless – Jorgen Brekke Cloak & Dagger Library
Island of the Sequined Love Nun – Moore Humor TBR Pile
The President’s War Nonfiction Library
Endangered – C J Box Cloak & Dagger Library

 

Here’s where I stand on my various Reading Challenges. Obviously, I am doing pretty damn well with three out of 5 of the challenges above 33% after the first third of the year and the other two not that far behind! Later today I will post my projected reads for May 2015!! I think I have them picked out, but maybe I may tweak the list a little.

 

Reading Challenge From TBR Pile Buy/Library Total Goal %complete
2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge 0 3 3 11 27%
2015 Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge 4 7 11 23 48%
2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 1 1 2 5 40%
2015 Science Fiction/Fantasy Challenge 2 1 3 12 25%
Totals 7 12 19 51 37%
Currently Reading Challenge From Page Total %complete
n
What Then Must We Do-Gar Alperowitz Nonfiction Library 113 156 72%
Bowl of Heaven – Benford and Niven Science Fiction Library 128 412 31%
A Delicate Truth – John Le Carre Cloak & Dagger Library 4 310 1%
Dance of Death – Preston & Child Cloak & Dagger TBR Pile 0 451 0%
The Technologists – Matthew Pearl Historical Fiction TBR Pile 0 476 0%

Island of the Sequined Love Nun – Christopher Moore

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Island of the Sequined Love Nun – Christopher Moore – Book 17 of 2015

 

So the question of the night is: Who is Your Favorite Author of humorous books?? Janet Evanovich? Carl Hiaasen? Terry Pratchett? Douglas Adams? Tim Dorsey?? Dave Barry??  The question arises because one of  my goals for April was to read a book on happiness or a funny book. I chose to read a funny book and one book that fit that description that was on my TBR pile was Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore.

The first book that I read by Christopher Moore was Coyote Blue, which I read way back in 1994 (Good gosh – 21 years ago)since then I have read most of his books. with Lamb being on of my all-time favorite books. i will say that I have had a hard time getting into his last three books Fools. The Serpent of Venice and Sacre Bleu. I guess I wasn’t in the right mood when I tried to start both Fools and Sacre Bleu. Anyway when I picked up Island of the Sequined Love Nun at the fall library book sale,  I knew it was one that I would enjoy. And who wouldn’t, it has everything you could want in a book. There’s the hapless protagonist Tucker Case who destroys his boss’s pink plane during a drunken airborne romp with a prostitute which causes Tucker to hurriedly leaves the US to protect his hide. He ends up flying shady missions for a doctor on the island of  Alualu in Micronesia, Other things to love in Island of the Sequined Love Nun include: the doctor’s wife aka the Sky Priestess, the natives of the Island the Shark people, including an ostracized cannibal, a cross-dressing navigator and of course your proverbial talking fruit bat!!  And I love them all!!

Bottom Line: Island of the Sequined Love Nun is a fun ride and definitely a four plus star book for me. In the words of the aforementioned Mr Hiaasen th book is……

“So delightfully warped and funny that no sane person could have written it”

Yes. Mr Moore is one warped,  twisted and very funny author whose work I love!! So Check it out…..as for me I think that I need to give those last three books a second chance and oh yeah I also haven’t read – Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings. What;’s that I hear was it Tim Dorsey’s Torpedo Juice calling me from my TBR pile. …..”Read Me Next…..Read Me Next”   Decisions, decisions.!! Ok so who is your favorite humorous author????

Dreamless – Jorgen Brekke

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Dreamless (Book 2 – Odd Singsaker Series)

 

Dreamless is the second book  from Norwegian author Jorgen Brekke and it’s a good one. The setting of the book is Trondheim Norway and the main character of the series is Chief Inspector Odd Singsaker. The book follows up where book one Where Monsters Dwell left off. Odd is still recovering and ,dealing with the effects of his brain tumor. He is now married to former American police officer Felicia Stone. All of the characters are still dealing with the aftershocks of the prior murder investigation, only to be immersed in an even more bizarre investigation, The new investigation starts when a young woman is found murdered,  her larynx has been removed and a music box stuffed in its place!!  The music box is playing a beautiful lullaby that no one has ever heard!

When the killer snatches another victim this one a teenage girl with a beautiful voice, Odd and his force know that they must find the girl quickly or she will meet the same fate as the first victim. But the question is why?? What is the ultimate objective of the killer? Is it murder for murder’s sake or does he want something more from these women something that revolves around the lullaby and its history??

The history of the lullaby is told in a series of flashbacks side by side with the modern story. That story involves the solving of another murder that of a young troubadour from Sweden who is found dead in Trondheim in 1767! The troubadour is the composer of the lullaby whose claim to fame is that it sends any listener into a long and blissful sleep. The mystery of the troubadour’s grisly murder must be solved by the Chief of Police Nils Bayer. Bayer not only fights to discover the murderer but also his addiction to alcohol!

Bottom Line: Dreamless is a great read and I can’t wait until I can get my hands on the next adventure of Odd Singsaker. See while Odd was tracking down the killer he was also having person problems stemming from his actions in book one of the series, and at the end of  Dreamless things were not resolved between Odd and Felicia! We need to know!!

I enjoy the way Brekke has blended current events with history in both books. The characters Odd and all his friends and co-workers are great and the mysteries are intricately plotted and the action fast paced with the final resolutions of both story lines finishing on the final pages, leaving you gasping and ready  for more!! Fans of Jo Nesbo, and Karin Fossum will love this one!

Links for Further Explorations

Website: MacMillan: Odd Singsaker
Amazon: Jorgen Brekke Page
Dreamless
Goodreads:Jorgen Brekke
Facebook

Book 16 for 2015 – 10 on a goal of 23 for the Cloak & Dagger  Reading Challenge!

 

Reading Challenge Status Update – April 9, 2015

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2015 Reading Challenges Update and Projected April Reads

 

So we are almost a third of the way through April and I guess it’s time to update my Reading Challenges status and update the list of books I hope to finish this month!!! First yesterday I finished book 15 for 2015 Woo Hoo! To put this minor accomplishment in perspective I finished book 15 in 2014 on August 17th! I actually believe that having a plan and the reading challenges have helped me keep up this great pace!! (and not working full-time help just a wee little bit!)

Book 15 for the year was On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft  by Stephen King. The book was a Christmas gift from my wife along with two other books on writing.  On Writing Well by William Zinsser and The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Do you think she’s trying to tell me something??? Anyway, the book was good and although it was written or those writing fiction, I did pick up some tips. I will be writing a more detailed review tomorrow. The book counts towards my 2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge bringing the total in that challenge to 2 on a goal of 11.

Earlier in the week I finished The Chessmen by Peter May, that book goes in the 2015 Cloak and Dagger reading challenge bringing the total in that challenge to 9 on a goal of 23!  .

I am still reading The President’s War and I WILL finish that book this month! Or maybe not. because I have some other really interesting books piled up for April ….. here are my proposed reads…..

What Then Must We Do = 2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge

2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge

I saw this book the other day when I discovered The Next System.com. Both out political and economic systems are not working well so maybe it;s time to start looking for a new system that can create a sustainable future for all.

 

Dreamless

.2015 Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge

Book 2 in the Odd Singsaker series. Set in Norway Odd is again chasing a murderer. The killer’s first victim had her larynx cut out and replaced by a music box, that plays a lullaby that no one has ever heard before!!

Island of the Squined Love Nun

 

2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

A while back I wrote I want to increase my happiness level by reading something funny. Well, it was between this on or the Tim Dorsey book on my TBR pile. This one wins!! Maybe Dorsey will win next month!!!

Bowl of Heaven

2015 Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Challenge

Okay I like hard science fiction and these are two of the best at the sub-genre. When I read the following I knew I had to read this book……

“What would you expect when two of the all-time greatest hard science fiction writers collaborate on a novel? Nothing less than this masterful, mind-expanding book. I am in awe.” – Robert J, Sawyer, author of Triggers

Switching back and forth between this book and the Christopher Moore book – going from the sublime to the ridiculous and  back don’t you think?? Should be fun!! Anyone care to join me??

Here’s my updated chart……

Reading Challenge From TBR Pile Buy/Library Total Goal %complete
2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge 0 2 2 11 18%
2015 Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge 4 5 9 23 39%
2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 1 1 2 5 40%
2015 Science Fiction/Fantasy Challenge 1 1 2 12 17%
Totals 6 9 15 51 29%
Currently Reading Challenge From Page Total %complete
The President’s War Nonfiction Library 154 316 49%
What Then Must We Do-Gar Alperowitz Nonfiction Library 0 156 0%
Bowl of Heaven – Benford and Niven Science Fiction Library 0 412 0%
Dreamless – Jorgen Brekke Cloak & Dagger Library 44 308 14%
Island of the Squined Love Nun – Christopher Moore Fiction TBR Pile 24 325 7%

The Chessmen – Peter May

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The Chessmen Book # 3 in the Award-winning Lewis Trilogy from Peter May

 

The Chessmen – Book #3 in the Award-winning Lewis Trilogy from Peter May

The Chessmen is the third and final book in Peter May’s outstanding Lewis Trilogy. The series follows ex-Detective Inspector Fin MacLeod as he returns to his home on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Through May’s vivid writing, the reader is swept into that rugged landscape and given a true sense of the people who live there.

In this final installment, Fin has left his old life behind and is temporarily living with his childhood love, Marsaili. He’s working as head of security for Red River Estates, where his first assignment brings him face-to-face with his childhood friend John Angus Macaskill — “Whistler” — a poacher who lives on the estate lands.

One night, while pursuing Whistler across the hills, they are forced to shelter in a cave. The next morning they discover that a loch has drained overnight, revealing the wreckage of a small aircraft. It turns out to be the long-missing plane of their friend Roddy MacKenzie, who vanished seventeen years earlier. Inside is a decomposed body — a man who didn’t die in a crash, but was murdered. Finding out who killed Roddy, and why, will upend the lives of Fin’s closest friends.

May tells Roddy’s story, and that of his band Amran, through flashbacks that weave into Fin’s own life. These glimpses show how their college band rose to fame, with Fin helping as a roadie and his friend Donald as manager — a tale that ended in tragedy with Roddy’s disappearance.

I love books that take me to places I’ll never visit, and May certainly does that with this trilogy.

From The Scotsman:

“Vivid descriptions of the barren landscapes and cruel weather are a poignant backdrop for a melancholy tale.”

From The Daily Record:

“Steeped in atmosphere and set in a location that permeates the story like a falling mist, The Chessmen takes the reader on an enticing reel, forwards, backwards, side to side, every step leading to a breathtaking climax.”

The Lewis Chessmen
The Lewis Chessmen in the British Museum

The title The Chessmen refers to the Lewis Chessmen, a group of 12th-century chess pieces discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis. Carved from walrus ivory, they are among the few surviving medieval chess sets.

Bottom Line:

The Chessmen, and the trilogy as a whole, are five-star reads for me. I love Fin MacLeod and his circle of friends, and I’ll miss them. May creates a “sense of place” like few writers can, and his characters feel incredibly real. I rarely reread books, but this series may be an exception — I can see myself returning to the Hebrides with Fin again and again.

The Lewis Trilogy wasn’t my first encounter with Peter May. Years ago, I read The Firemaker, the first book in his China Thriller series featuring Li Yan and Margaret Campbell. I may have to revisit that series, or perhaps dive deeper into the Enzo Files to get my next Peter May fix.

From The New York Times:

“Peter May is a writer I’d follow to the ends of the earth.”

Book 14 of 2015 – Book 9 of the Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge

✅ Tightened your summary without losing your personal touch.