Category: Books-Fiction

Moonlight Mile – Dennis Lehane

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The Story

In the world of Dennis Lehane‘s Kenzie and Gennero, 12 years have past since Patrick found Amanda McCready and returned her to unfit mother (see Gone Baby Gone). Patrick and Angie are now married and the proud parents of a four year four year old daughter.

Patrick is hoping to get a full time job at a very affluent security company. One night he gets a call the caller says “You found her before, find her again”. The next morning Patrick runs into Amanda’s Aunt Beatrice who apologizes for the previous night’s late call and then tells Patrick that Amanda, now a straight A student at a Boston prep school and a chance to go to Harvard or Yale, has been missing for three weeks and no one cares!

Soon Patrick is sucked back into the world he hoped he’d left behind including drugs and the Russian Mafia. But Patrick has to find Amanda to put the past behind him, the past that haunts him everyday because he did the legally right thing that was actually the wrong thing. Finding Amanda now could help to set things right!

My Thoughts

I really enjoy the characters of this series and Lehane’s writing overall. The pages of this book just flew by last night and like most of his stories there are enough twists to keep you guessing as to what’s going on! As with every Lehane book. It’s a great read! So read it now and then compare it to the movie sequel which is bound to come!

Book 41 – Moonlight Mile – Dennis Lehane

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In the world of Dennis Lehane‘s Kenzie and Gennero, 12 years have past since Patrick found Amanda McCready and returned her to unfit mother (see Gone Baby Gone). Patrick and Angie are now married and the proud parents of a four year four year old daughter. Patrick is hoping to get a full time job at a very affluent security company. One night he gets a call the caller says “You found her before, find her again”. The next morning Patrick runs into Amanda’s Aunt Beatrice who apologizes for the previous night’s late call and then tells Patrick that Amanda, now a straight A student at a Boston prep school and a chance to go to Harvard or Yale, has been missing for three weeks and no one cares! Soon Patrick is sucked back into the world he hoped he’d left behind including drugs and the Russian Mafia. But Patrick has to find Amanda to put the past behind him, the past that haunts him everyday because he did the legally right thing that was actually the wrong thing. Finding Amanda now could help to set things right!

I really enjoy the characters of this series and Lehane’s writing overall. The pages of this book just flew by last night and like most of his stories there are enough twists to keep you guessing as to what’s going on! As with every Lehane book. It’s a great read! So read it now and then compare it to the movie sequel which is bound to come!

Fragment – Warren Fahy

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Book number 40 for 2010 is Warren Fahy’s debut novel Fragment A reality series SeaLife staring a group of scientists exploring the world’s oceans is floundering in the ratings. Nell Duckworth a botanist on the show knows they are passing a little know island in the Pacific Henders Island and hopes they will visit! Nell gets her wish when an emergency signal is received from a boat that had run aground on the island, so Nell got her wish and as they say be careful what you wish for. What they find on this island is evolution gone wild….species of animals the likes of which have never been seen in the world! It’s a world full of fast and furious species that kill just about everything….. It’s a wild ride based on sound science facts that make it truly believable and scary! The pages just flew by especially the last 100 pages!!

The cover says that the book is: “A rollicking tale [that] will enthrall readers of a Jurassic Park and The Ruins. from USA Today

And James Rollins (one of my favorite authors) says:

“Few debuts are a explosive as Warren Fahy’s Fragment, a story of evolutionary horror that leaps off the page and grabs your throat. Think Jurassic Park on steriods. This is one hell of a ride”

I agree and can’t wait for the sequel that Mr. Fahy is working on!! Now it’s on to the new Dennis Lehane! Oh remember I said that I’d be reading two books at once well since I couldn’t put Fragment down that ain’t happening!

Damaged – Alex Kava

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Damaged – Alex Kava -(Maggie O’Dell # 8)

 

Damaged – Maggie O’Dell #8 – Alex Kava

Damaged is the eighth Alex Kava novel featuring FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell, and it’s another fast, compelling read. Like many of Kava’s thrillers, it weaves elements of real-world truth into the fiction — and in this case, it drops Maggie right into the eye of a hurricane.

The Story

When a sea chest containing dismembered body parts is pulled from the Gulf of Mexico, Maggie is sent to Pensacola, Florida, to investigate.

At the same time, Dr. Benjamin Platt is called to Pensacola to help determine why young soldiers are dying after otherwise successful surgeries to repair war injuries. Maggie first met Platt while being treated for Ebola exposure in Exposed, and now they have a tentative, evolving relationship.

Adding to the chaos, a Category 5 hurricane is bearing down on the Florida coast.

Among the standout characters here are:

  • Liz Bailey, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer who recovers the chest.
  • Walter Bailey, Liz’s father, whose Coney Island canteen is a fixture on Pensacola Beach.

Thoughts on the Series

I’ve been an Alex Kava fan since A Perfect Evil, Maggie O’Dell’s debut, and every book since has been solid. The last three before Damaged — Exposed, Black Friday, and now Damaged — have tackled a wide range of threats: biological terrorism, suicide bombers, and now the grisly mystery of dismembered bodies.

While reading the series in order adds depth to Maggie’s character development and relationships, each book works well as a standalone.

If you’re looking for a smart, fast-paced thriller, pick up Damaged — or grab any Maggie O’Dell novel and enjoy the ride.

Ice Cold – Tess Gerritsen

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So I finished Book 37 for the year like I wrote early between naps and then staying up until 12:25! The book was Tess Gerritsen’s new novel Ice Cold. This is the eighth Rizzoli and Isles book and the first that appeared after the debut of the TV show that has been one of the biggest hits this summer! This book is a little different from some of the others in that there are no murders to solve, or serial killers to chase and it focuses on Maura. The novel opens with Maura attending a pathologist conference in Wyoming where she meets a colleague who went to college with and lusted for Maura from afar. Soon Maura is impulsively (not at all like her) on her way with the doctor and his friends and daughter. An accident on a mountain road leads them to a cult village Kingdom Come, where they find shelter and also find that all of the residents have vanished! Soon events transpire that will test Maura’s mettle and change her life forever! What happened to the residents and soon it becomes why are people trying to kill me!!

As always the characters are great, the pace of the book is fast and it keeps you guessing to the end what really happened! While the full development of the characters isn’t know until you read all of the books but you can probably pick this one up and read and enjoy it with having read the others.

One thing I noticed in the book that Maura’s hair is black not the color of Sasha Alexander’s hair in the TV series! But overall I think the TV series does a good job of translating the book to TV. Has anyone watched it?

Book 37 – Ice Cold – Tess Gerritsen

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So I finished Book 37 for the year like I wrote early between naps and then staying up until 12:25! The book was Tess Gerritsen’s new novel Ice Cold. This is the eighth Rizzoli and Isles book and the first that appeared after the debut of the TV show that has been one of the biggest hits this summer! This book is a little different from some of the others in that there are no murders to solve, or serial killers to chase and it focuses on Maura. The novel opens with Maura attending a pathologist conference in Wyoming where she meets a colleague who went to college with and lusted for Maura from afar. Soon Maura is impulsively (not at all like her) on her way with the doctor and his friends and daughter. An accident on a mountain road leads them to a cult village Kingdom Come, where they find shelter and also find that all of the residents have vanished! Soon events transpire that will test Maura’s mettle and change her life forever! What happened to the residents and soon it becomes why are people trying to kill me!!

As always the characters are great, the pace of the book is fast and it keeps you guessing to the end what really happened! While the full development of the characters isn’t know until you read all of the books but you can probably pick this one up and read and enjoy it with having read the others.

One thing I noticed in the book that Maura’s hair is black not the color of Sasha Alexander’s hair in the TV series! But overall I think the TV series does a good job of translating the book to TV. Has anyone watched it?

Book 36 – True Evil – Greg Iles

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Greg Iles is one of those authors that when I read one of his books I have one of those “What was I thinking?” moments for not reading his books as soon as they come out!! (Can you say too many books, too little time!) Anyway True Evil has been sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read for a long while and I’m glad I finally got around to reading it and at 637 pages it should count as two books! But like all of Iles’ books those pages just flew by!

In this book FBI agent Alexandra (Alex) Morse is called to her home of Mississippi when her sister Grace is struck down by brain hemorrhage. On her death bed she tells Alex that she was murdered by her husband and asks Alex to save her son from his father. Soon Alex, who is having one of those when it goes bad it goes bad all at the same time periods as her father was killed in a robbery attempt gone bad (Dad the ex-cop and now PI), her mother’s dying of ovarian cancer, and she has been demoted at the FBI from her position as a top hostage negotiator when a hostage situation went bad leaving her face scared and a fellow FBI agent dead, sets out to find out how her brother-in-law killed her.She soon finds that Bill Fennel had visited a divorce attorney in Jackson, who seems to be providing a service whereby clients seeking a divorce are saved losing their money, or children by having their spouses mysterious die of cancer! Alex enlists the aid of Dr. Chris Sheppard whose wife Thora has visited the same attorney and Alex is convinced Sheppard is the next victim!

Iles writes good thrillers with believable characters that keep the action moving until the last pages of the book are turned!

Raves about the book:

“A pulse-pounder…… A fresh twist on the cat-and-mouse game between an FBI agent and a fiendishly clever serial killer…. Smooth prose, psychological depth and crafty plotting” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Fascinating…. The medicine and science at the heart of this book are chillngly real” Bookreporter.com

So if you’ve never read Greg Iles pick up one of his books and I bet you won’t be able to put it down, and maybe you won’t be like me and wait too long until you read the next one!! Where is that Devil’s Punchbowl hum, I think there’s a copy up on son Andrew’s bookshelf. But, oh wait, maybe Tess Gerrritsen’s latest is still waiting for me at the library, damn!

True Evil – Greg Iles

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Greg Iles is one of those authors that when I read one of his books I have one of those “What was I thinking?” moments for not reading his books as soon as they come out!! (Can you say too many books, too little time!) Anyway True Evil has been sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read for a long while and I’m glad I finally got around to reading it and at 637 pages it should count as two books! But like all of Iles’ books those pages just flew by!

In this book FBI agent Alexandra (Alex) Morse is called to her home of Mississippi when her sister Grace is struck down by brain hemorrhage. On her death bed she tells Alex that she was murdered by her husband and asks Alex to save her son from his father. Soon Alex, who is having one of those when it goes bad it goes bad all at the same time periods as her father was killed in a robbery attempt gone bad (Dad the ex-cop and now PI), her mother’s dying of ovarian cancer, and she has been demoted at the FBI from her position as a top hostage negotiator when a hostage situation went bad leaving her face scared and a fellow FBI agent dead, sets out to find out how her brother-in-law killed her.She soon finds that Bill Fennel had visited a divorce attorney in Jackson, who seems to be providing a service whereby clients seeking a divorce are saved losing their money, or children by having their spouses mysterious die of cancer! Alex enlists the aid of Dr. Chris Sheppard whose wife Thora has visited the same attorney and Alex is convinced Sheppard is the next victim!

Iles writes good thrillers with believable characters that keep the action moving until the last pages of the book are turned!

Raves about the book:

“A pulse-pounder…… A fresh twist on the cat-and-mouse game between an FBI agent and a fiendishly clever serial killer…. Smooth prose, psychological depth and crafty plotting” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Fascinating…. The medicine and science at the heart of this book are chillngly real” Bookreporter.com

So if you’ve never read Greg Iles pick up one of his books and I bet you won’t be able to put it down, and maybe you won’t be like me and wait too long until you read the next one!! Where is that Devil’s Punchbowl hum, I think there’s a copy up on son Andrew’s bookshelf. But, oh wait, maybe Tess Gerrritsen’s latest is still waiting for me at the library, damn!

Vermilion Drift – William Kent Krueger

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It’s been a busy day at the College of William and Mary a nice luncheon on the grounds near the Wren Building and the President’s House and then a rout of Villanova that turned into a nail biter that ended ok as W&M won 31-24!

So there was not a lot of time for music, but I did finish Book 35 last night William Kent Krueger’s latest Vermilion Drift. The Cork O’Connor is one of my favorite series. The books all ways have much more than just a mystery in them as Krueger explores the complexities of life through Cork O’Connor.

The Story

The story opens with Cork being hired by Max Cavanaugh the owner of  Vermilion One a mine that the government is considering as a nuclear waste deposit site, hiring Cork to find his missing sister Lauren. Cork has also been called in by the mine officials to investigate  threats against the owners of the mine. Soon forty year old bodies are found in the Vermilion Drift (horizontal mine shafts)and they lead back to The Vanishings that occurred on the reservation forty years ago and the solution to the murders leads Cork to explore his past!

My Thoughts

Vermilion Drift is the tenth book in this series and while it may not be necessary to read all the books in order you may want to read Heaven’s Keep book 9 before this one to know what’s gone on in Cork’s life . But like all the books the characters and the stories are both great and I hope that Krueger keeps the series alive!

…

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Virgin Heat – Lawrence Shames

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ok so I picked out some new names and listened to a couple of tracks from several albums but never got to listen that much to any of them. A slow connecting computer coupled with a good Phillies game and finishing Book 34 Virgin Heat kept me busy tonight!

The artist that I started to listen to included: Mark Scott LaMountain and the Blue Thunder Band and their album Guitars, Gun and Southern Women,

J.J Grey and Mofro’s album Georgia Warhorse, Jay Gaunt a blues harp player whose new album is on the Roots Music Blues Chart but Rhapsody only has some earlier albums and the one I was ready to listen to was Blown Away. Th

e last thing that I previewed today was Charlie Musselwhite’s new album The Well which sounded pretty good. So I will listen to these albums tomorrow and we’ll celebrate Blues Wednesday on Thursday!

But tonight belonged to those Phils and Roy Oswalt as they extended their lead over my daughter’s team those Atlanta Braves.

Book 34 Virgin Heat. This is the first book I’ve read by Lawrence Shames and it won’t be the last! Set in Key West the book tells the tale of Angie Amaro who for years has pined for her lost love Sal Martucci. The reason she pines is that Sal is now living as Ziggy Maxx in Key West after ratting Angie’s father a mob member Paul Amaro and sending him to prison.

After Angie’s Uncle Louie visits Key West and returns with a video in which Angie recognizes Sal, she sets off for Florida to find her lover. Soon Uncle Louie takes off to find Angie and a good tale is told in the style of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen.

Ann Helmuth of the Orlando Sentinel calls it The Birdcage meets the Godfather and that’s appropriate for this often funny and touching book, full of good characters and wit! I enjoyed it and will certainly be on the look out for more Shames and there appears to be seven other books set in Key West!