Category: Author Debut

4.5/5, AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2013, X-Y-Z

2013.36 REVIEW – The Never List by Koethi Zan

Tara

The Never List
by Koethi Zan

Copyright: 2013
Pages: 303
Rating: 4.5/5
Read: Aug.13-17, 2013
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 36
Format: Print
Source: Library

The Never ListBlurb: For years, best friends Sarah and Jennifer kept what they called the Never List: a list of actions to be avoided, for safety’s sake, at all costs. But one night, against their best instincts, they accept a cab ride with grave, everlasting consequences. For the next three years, they are held captive with two other girls in a dungeon-like cellar by a connoisseur of sadism.

Ten years later, at thirty-one, Sarah is still struggling to resume a normal life, unable to come to grips with the fact that Jennifer didn’t make it out of that cellar. Now, her abductor is up for parole and Sarah can no longer ignore the twisted letters he sends from jail.

Finally, Sarah decides to confront her phobias – and the other survivors, who hold their own deep grudges against her. When she goes on a cross-country chase that takes her into the perverse world of BDSM, secret cults, and the arcane study of torture, Sarah begins unraveling a mystery more horrifying than even she could have imagined.

Review: When I first saw this book mentioned somewhere (darn it, why can I never remember to jot that down?!), I was immediately intrigued. You can imagine my delight when I saw that my library had two copies on order and that there were only two people on the waiting list!

When I began reading it, I was immediately hooked. I took to Sarah’s character right away. I couldn’t help but pity her and Jennifer after surviving that horrific car crash that claimed the life of Jennifer’s mother. You really couldn’t blame them for starting the “Never List.” They took every precaution … even going so far as to hiring a car service while they were in college so that they would never have to get into a cab with a strange driver. Unfortunately, one night they did indeed let their guard down. And that was the night they were abducted.

I must state that this book coming out so close to the time of those women in Ohio being rescued from that man’s house … just, wow. Just the parallels between the two stories, especially since Sarah and Jennifer were at Ohio State! Very strange, indeed.

I have to give big props to the author, though. This book could have been extremely gruesome based on the abduction and the characters’ time in that cellar. Somehow, Ms. Zan managed to keep the descriptions of their time in the cellar to a minimum, and when it was mentioned, it was done tastefully in my opinion. I know that sounds hard to believe, but it really is how I felt about it. And the language is actually rather clean, with just a few F-bombs scattered throughout. Nothing gratuitous, in my opinion.

I do have one slight issue with this book, though. Sarah’s character bothered me a little bit. First of all, I want to know how you can have someone so afraid of just going outside, manage to leave her apartment, fly across the country, drive at night and investigate something that has haunted her for years? It seemed very much at odds with everything I as a reader knew about Sarah. I mean, she wouldn’t even shake the hand of the FBI agent in charge of her case! How was she able to overcome all of that and go on that journey? It just didn’t really seem plausible that she would be able to cope with so much so quickly.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt like it was a roller-coaster, thrill-a-minute ride from page one. I prefer to keep my comments here relatively clean, but I can’t help but tell you that when I finished this book, the first thing that came to my mind was “what a total mind-f*ck.” It’s the best psychological thriller I’ve read in some time.

Highly recommended.

5/5, AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, Fiction, M, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013

2013.34 REVIEW – Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

Tara

Reconstructing Amelia 
by Kimberly McCreight

Copyright: 2013
Pages: 380
Rating: 5/5
Read: Aug. 2-6, 2013
Challenge: What’s in a Name 6 Challenge
Yearly count: 34
Format: Print
Source: Library

Reconstructing AmeliaBlurb: When Kate, single mother and law firm partner, gets an urgent phone call summoning her to her daughter’s exclusive private school, she’s shocked. Amelia has been suspended for cheating, something that would be completely out of character for her over-acheiving, well-behaved daughter.

Kate rushes to Grace Hall, but what she finds when she finally arrives is beyond her comprehension.

Her daughter Amelia is dead. 

Despondent over having been caught cheating, Amelia has jumped from the school’s roof in an act of impulsive suicide. At least that’s the story Grace Hall and the police tell Kate. In a state of shock and overcome by grief, Kate tries to come to grips with this life-shattering news. Then she gets an anonymous text:

Amelia didn’t jump. 

The moment she sees that message, Kate knows in her heart it’s true. Clearly Amelia had secrets, and a life Kate knew nothing about. Wracked by guilt, Kate is determined to find out what those secrets were and who could have hate her daughter enough to kill. She searches through Amelia’s e-mails, texts, and Facebook updates, piecing together the last troubled days of her daughter’s life.

Reconstructing Amelia is a stunning debut page-turner that brilliantly explores the secret world of teenagers, their clandestine first loves, hidden friendships, and the dangerous cruelty that can spill over into acts of terrible betrayal.

Review: What. A. Book. Undoubtedly this book will make it on my Top Reads list at the end of the year. It’s just one of those books that really sucks you in and spits you back out when you finish the last page. There’s just so much to talk about this book, I don’t really know where to start.

I will try to keep spoilers at a minimum, but definitely read this review with caution.

First, I guess I should talk about my experience as a teenager in high school. To a certain extent, during my junior year, I was bullied. For whatever reason there was this one girl who was absolutely out to get me. Looking back on it, I still try to figure out what on earth I ever did to her, and the only thing I can think of is that she was just plain jealous of me (why, I will never know, but whatever). However, it hurt deeply at the time. Luckily it started and stopped pretty much with this one girl, but for about 4 months it was non-stop. Then one day it stopped as quickly as it started. I never cracked under her pressure. I put on a brave face at school and pushed through it. But I was absolutely aching inside. I still had a lot of good friends behind me, but she sure did manage to wreak havoc. Having said all that, I know it could have been worse. I was in high school before the huge Facebook/Twitter/Texting explosion happened. We had cell phones (we all had those Nokia’s that had the changeable faceplates!) and MSN instant messenger. And yeah, things got around … but not in the instant that it can now. So for that, I was lucky. But I can definitely feel for those teenagers (or tweens) who are being bullied today. It hurts, no matter how it’s happening to you.

So for this reason, I take books about bullying a little differently than some might. I can definitely connect to the character being bullied more than other readers might. And it’s for this reason that I really loved Amelia’s character. When we first meet her she doesn’t care about what others think. She has her best friend, Sylvia, and a mother who, while somewhat absent, definitely loves her, and that’s all she needs. Oh and it doesn’t hurt that she’s super smart and on the field hockey team, too. She’s carved out a nice place for herself in her school. But all that changes when she gets tapped for a club. And as someone who wanted to be accepted and popular in high school more than anything, I can understand why she was curious about joining. But I felt bad for Amelia too when she got tapped. She knew something was off, she knew she had no business being there … she could have walked away, but she didn’t. And that was the beginning of her downfall. I felt like I was watching a really good girl change into someone she wasn’t as I continued to read the book. She started lying to everyone. She started doing things out of character. And then it all backfired on her.

I guess I should mention now that the book is told in alternating views between Amelia and her mother, Kate. And I felt really bad for Kate’s character. She got pregnant unexpectedly in law school. She chose to keep the baby. But something about her irritated me. I guess it was because she was so absent in her daughter’s life. I mean, I know she tried, and I know she loved Amelia … but you don’t become partner at a NYC law firm easily. She was putting in some major hours and I felt like her relationship with her daughter definitely suffered. You could tell that she felt guilty about it, and Amelia was too headstrong to ask her mom for help. Personally I don’t have an important career. Yes, I have a job outside of the home … but I work for my dad and my son comes first and that’s just how it’s going to be. I don’t really know what it would be like to try to juggle a demanding career and a family, but I can imagine that if you were a single parent, it would probably go the way it did for Kate and Amelia.

The remaining adult characters in this book. Just … wow. You would expect adults to act like adults and children to act like children. But it seems a lot of times those roles were reversed in this book. And as the book started to come to a close and things were finally revealed, it was absolutely shocking at times. I finished this book on Monday and I’m still reeling from some of the revelations.

Overall I highly recommend this book. I think it’s a really good read. But I must warn you, it’s not a sugar-coated, G-rated book. So take that into account if you have issues with reading foul language and sexual situations.

But I think that this is a book that all parents should read at some point. It’s definitely eye-opening, and while I’m still 14 years away from any situations like the ones in this book, it is truly something that we as parents need to be aware of so that we can hopefully guide our children in the right direction.

AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, Fiction, Nina Reilly, O, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, SERIES

2013.20 REVIEW – Motion to Suppress by Perri O’Shaughnessy

Tara

Motion to Suppress
by Perri O’Shaughnessy

Copyright: 1995
Pages: 450
Read: April 23-29, 2013
Challenge: Off the Shelf Challenge
Yearly count: 20
Format: Print
Source: Personal copy

Blurb:Misty Patterson only remembered the fight, the polar bear statue she used as a bludgeon, a trail of blood, and the comatose sleep that followed. When she awoke, her husband and the statue were missing. Only the blood was left. She had come to attorney Nina Reilly’s office seeking a divorce. But when Anthony Patterson was found on the bottom of the frigid lake, Misty needed a miracle.

Barely a week before, Nina Reilly had been a happily married San Francisco lawyer. Suddenly she’s a single parent, opening a shoestring practice in Lake Tahoe. And now Nina finds herself embroiled in a case that’s going to change everything she believes about the law. It’s going to rock everything Misty Patterson believes about herself. And it’s going to give both women a look at the damning piece of evidence that will challenge their faith in each other. Or give them their one and only chance to win…

Review: This is the first in the Nina Reilly series. It’s also been a series that has been on my “to start” list for ages. Recently I started acquiring the first few in this series and since I needed a break from review books, I figured now was as good a time as any to start another series (ha!)

Honestly, I really enjoyed this book. There’s just something about Nina Reilly that really hit home for me. I don’t know quite how to explain it, but I just really enjoyed her character. She felt so real to me. She wasn’t perfect, but she was doing the best she could with what she had. And that husband of hers … ex-husband, now … what a sleaze bag. He rubbed me the wrong way. But it will be interesting to see what happens between her and Paul!

The characters, even the secondary ones, are so well-developed in my opinion. I know sometimes it’s hard to make secondary characters seem important, but the O’Shaughnessy ladies (they are two sisters), definitely make it happen.

I have to say that I wasn’t exactly surprised by the ending. I kind of had an inkling of where things were going, but I didn’t have it completely figured out until it was revealed. It wasn’t hard to figure out who was behind the threats on Nina and Misty. But what happened to Anthony, well that one was a little more surprising.

I felt as if the book went along at a nice pace, it never slowed down for me. And I really felt that Nina was amazing in the courtroom – those scenes were some of the best in the book, in my opinion.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this first book and look forward to reading more in the series soon!

AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, Fiction, L, Read in 2013, Review Book, TLC Book Tours

2013.16 REVIEW – Untold Damage by Robert K. Lewis

Tara

Untold Damage
by Robert K. Lewis

Copyright: 2013
Pages: 289
Read: March 25-29, 2013
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 16
Format: Print
Source: Author for TLC Book Tours

Untold DamageBlurb: Estranged from his wife and daughter, former undercover cop Mark Mallen has spent the last four years in a haze of heroin. When his best friend from the academy, Eric Russ, is murdered, all the evidence points to Mallen as the prime suspect.

Now Mallen’s former colleagues on the force are turning up the heat and Russ’s survivors are asking him to come up with some answers. But if he wants to serve justice to the real killer, Mallen knows he’ll have to get clean. Turning a life around is hard work for a junkie, especially when a gang of low-life thugs wants him dead. Bruised, battered, and written off by nearly everyone, can Mallen keep clean and catch a killer?

Review:

Sometimes the darkest moments of our life give us the brightest chance at our redemption.

Page 55 of ARC

When I was originally pitched this book I thought it sounded like a pretty decent read. I had no idea just how enjoyable I would find it. I was very pleasantly surprised by this debut book by Robert K. Lewis. I honestly feel like this is such a wonderful start to what can be a great new series.

I have to begin this review by talking about a couple of the characters. My faithful readers know that I am a huge stickler for some good character development. To me the characters will make or break a book, especially a series. Mark Mallen is such an interesting character. If I had to choose one word to describe him I would select flawed. And boy oh boy, is he ever flawed. I mean, he’s an ex-cop, who used to work undercover in narcotics. And why is he an ex-cop? Oh, you know, because he got hooked on heroin during his undercover stint and got kicked off the force. Can you get any more flawed than that? I don’t think so. But there’s just something about him that works. I think it’s the fact that he wants to be better. As the reader, we really get to see the transformation that so many junkies never get to experience: the want to get clean. And it’s a tough road. He detoxes cold turkey while in the drunk tank in jail. That’s tough. There are many times throughout the book that you think that he’s going to relapse. Personally I found myself rooting so hard for Mallen to get out of certain situations still clean. I wanted him to stay clean. I wanted him to succeed. His character is just so real. In my opinion, he’s a great main character. It’s hard to blend flawed and likeable at the same time … but Mr. Lewis certainly does so almost effortlessly.

In my opinion another character who must be discussed is Gato. Some would call his character more periphery than some of the other characters. But there was just something about Gato that didn’t really feel right. First, Mallen meets him while he’s in the drunk tank detoxing. Obviously that’s not the best time to meet your new best friend. But for some reason, Gato offers him friendship. And Mallen takes him up on it when he’s clean and back on the outside. But for some reason, something rubbed me the wrong way about his character. He was almost too helpful. He never questioned Mallen. Even when most guys would walk away from Mallen and the crazy things he was asking of Gato, he stayed. He just seemed too eager to help Mallen. I might be making more out of it than there is to it, but like I said, something felt off …. I have a feeling that Gato is going to ask Mallen for help in the next book, and I think it’s going to be something big (bad?) that he’s going to be requesting. Just a feeling I have, though.

The storyline itself is interesting. It was fast paced and kept me guessing until the end. The killer was predictable, but I found it fun to work “the case” with Mallen. I liked seeing him brush off the rust of the past four years and get back into his groove with investigating. It was definitely fun. I also liked that the reader gets Mallen’s history. It was definitely necessary to include this information. To me it only made Mallen that much more enjoyable – it was very easy to see how he ended up where he did. I didn’t necessarily feel sorry for him, or think it was excusable, but it really put things into perspective.

Overall, I can’t recommend this book enough. And I’m excited that Mr. Lewis is busy at work on the next Mallen book 🙂

Connect with Robert K. Lewis:

Robert K. Lewis

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

**This review is posted in conjunction with the TLC Book Tours blog tour. I received a copy of this book to review in exchange for my honest opinion. I received no monetary compensation and the opinions expressed here are my own.

tlc logoPlease be sure to check out the other stops on the tour:

Monday, April 8th: Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile
Tuesday, April 9th: Crime Fiction Lover
Wednesday, April 10th: Booksie’s Blog
Thursday, April 11th: Tales of a Book Addict
Wednesday, April 17th: Ace and Hoser Blook
Monday, April 22nd: Joyfully Retired
Tuesday, April 23rd: Must Read Faster
Wednesday, April 24th: A Bookworm’s World
Thursday, April 25th: she treads softly
Monday, April 29th: Crazy Shenanigans
Tuesday, April 30th: My Two Blessings

AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2013, Review Book, U-V-W

2013.13 REVIEW – The Trajectory of Dreams by Nicole Wolverton

Tara

The Trajectory of Dreams
by Nicole Wolverton

Copyright: 2013
Pages: 285
Read: March 1-5, 2013
Challenge: No Challenge
Yearly count: 13
Format: Print
Source: Author for review

The Trajectory of DreamsBlurb: For Lela White, a Houston sleep lab technician, sleep doesn’t come easy—there’s a price to be paid for a poor night’s sleep, and she’s the judge, jury, and executioner.

Everyone around Lela considers her a private woman with a passion for her lab work. But nighttime reveals her for what she is: a woman on a critical secret mission. Lela lives in the grip of a mental disorder that compels her to break into astronauts’ homes to ensure they can sleep well and believes that by doing so, she keeps the revitalized U.S. space program safe from fatal accidents. What began at the age of ten when her mother confessed to blowing up the space shuttle has evolved into Lela’s life’s work. She dreads the day when an astronaut doesn’t pass her testing, but she’s prepared to kill for the greater good.

When Zory Korchagin, a Russian cosmonaut on loan to the U.S. shuttle program, finds himself drawn to Lela, he puts her carefully constructed world at risk of an explosion as surely as he does his own upcoming launch. As Lela’s universe unravels, no one is safe.

Review: This is one of those books where it’s going to be very hard to review it without giving away too much of the plot line, so I’ll do my best to avoid any kind of spoilers.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Lela White is absolutely insane. It is obvious that there is something seriously wrong in the head with this woman from the first page. But to be completely honest, it’s not until the very end that the reader becomes aware of just how serious her problems really are. I certainly had no idea as to the severity of her mental illness. I had a pretty good idea as to what had happened to her mother, but other than that it was completely surprising to me.

I thought that overall the writing was very good, there were a few typos here and there, but I was reading an ARC, so hopefully they were caught before final publication. However, I have to say that I kind of thought some of the transitions could have been smoother. Nothing that a couple of spaces between paragraphs couldn’t fix. It might have been something done intentionally by the author to further the picture of Lela’s character. I’m not sure. But then again, this might just be something that I like after having so many professors in college pound the words “transition sentences” into my brain!

As I stated above, this is a really hard book to review without getting too detailed. All I can say is that Lela White’s character is insane and that the storyline itself is pretty good and the reader should be stunned at the end.

Now go read it 🙂

NicoleWolverton_highres_RTAbout the Author:

Nicole Wolverton is the author of the upcoming psychology thriller, The Trajectory of Dreams (Bitingduck Press, March 2013). Her short stories and flash fiction have appeared in Black Heart Magazine, The Molotov Cocktail, and Penduline, among others. In addition to writing fiction, Wolverton is founder and managing editor of Farm to Philly (www.farmtophilly.com), a website devoted to locally grown foods and sustainable living. She resides in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area with her husband and small cadre of pets.

Praise for The Trajectory of Dreams

“The Trajectory of Dreams is unsettling, beautifully written, and truly original. In Lela White, Nicole Wolverton has created one of the most haunting characters in contemporary fiction. This is a remarkable debut.” –Emily St. John Mandel, author of THE LOLA QUARTET, THE SINGER’S GUN, and LAST NIGHT IN MONTREAL

“This novel is a free dive into the bottomless ocean of insanity. With every chapter, every kick of the fins, you’re sucked in deeper as the darkness mounts and the pressure builds. And like the ocean, The Trajectory of Dreams gives up its secrets grudgingly, so you’ll continually be stunned as the protagonist, Lela, falls to her inevitable implosion.” –Mike Mullin, author of ASHFALL and ASHEN WINTER.

“This is a psychological thriller of epic proportions. […] 5 out of 5 stars for its crazy twists and exhilarating ending. This is a gripping, disquieting look at mental illness that will cause you to question how well you can truly know a person, especially those with something to hide.” –Literary R&R

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book to review in exchange for my honest opinion. I received no monetary compensation.

A, AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2013, Review Book

2013.6 REVIEW – Death Has Its Benefits by Ronald Aiken

Tara

Death Has Its Benefits
by Ronald Aiken

Copyright: 2012
Pages: 271
Read: Jan. 23 – 27, 2013
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 6
Format: Print
Source: Author

Death Has its BenefitsBlurb:  What would you do if your best friend told you his boss was going to kill him? Try to save his life because he once saved yours? Well if you’re Tony Benson, and your best friend is a prankster like Leo Radigan, you’d do nothing, just laugh it off and say, “That’s a novel approach to work-force reduction.” If only it was that simple.

Leo’s boss, the mysterious Hike Meurtens, is an influential businessman and philanthropist, but Leo insists he’s not the man he appears to be. “With this guy you gotta give an arm to keep a leg,” he insists.

At first, Tony believes Leo’s ever increasing paranoia is fueled by problems at home – a bad marriage, spoiled kids and rising debt. After all, why would a man of Muertens’ stature commit murder? But as Tony tries to help his friend through his personal crisis, he finds himself being drawn into Leo’s paranoid world, and begins to wonder if there might be something to his crazy tales, after all.

As paranoia becomes reality, Tony’s darker side emerges and he must successfully navigate his way through the state’s mental health and criminal justice system to save his own life.

Review: I received this book via the author after being contacted by his PR rep.

Do you want a non-stop, thrill ride, edge-of-your-seat-suspense thriller? Then this is the book for you! The book starts and really never let me go, I was hooked from the very beginning. With the short chapters this book was very easy to get sucked into 50 pages before I knew what had happened.

I thought that the storyline was interesting – your boss wants to kill you? I don’t think that’s a storyline I’ve ever encountered! Definitely a nice thing to happen after reading so many mystery/thriller novels!

I think what I liked so much about this book was the real feel to it. The dialogue felt real, not forced. The characters felt real, the storyline never dragged – overall a very good read.

I am amazed that this is a debut – I can only look forward to seeing Mr. Aiken’s books in the future. Highly recommended.

5/5, AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2012, READING CHALLENGES 2012, Review Book, U-V-W

2012.30 REVIEW – The Intercept by Dick Wolf

Tara

The Intercept
by Dick Wolf

Copyright: 2013
Pages: 387
Rating: 5/5
Read: Nov. 16-Nov. 24, 2012
Challenge: Mystery & Suspense 2012
Yearly count: 30
Format: Print
Source: Review copy

Blurb:

Days before the July Fourth holiday and the dedication of One World Trade Center at Ground Zero, an incident aboard a commercial jet flying over the Atlantic Ocean reminds everyone that vigilance is not a task to be taken lightly. But for iconoclastic NYPD detective Jeremy Fisk, it may also be a signal that there is much more to this case than the easy answer of this being just the work of another lone terrorist.

Fisk—assigned to the department’s Intelligence Division, a well-funded anti terror unit modeled on the CIA—suspects that the event might also be a warning sign that another, potentially more extraordinary scheme has been set in motion. Fluent in Arabic and the ways of his opponents, Fisk is a rule breaker who follows his gut—even if it means defying those above him in the department’s food chain. So when a passenger from the same plane, a Saudi Arabian national, disappears into the crowds of Manhattan, it’s up to Fisk and his partner Krina Gersten to find him before the celebrations begin.

Watching each new lead fizzle, chasing shadows to dead ends, Fisk and Gersten quickly realize that their opponents are smarter and more agile than any they have ever faced. Extremely clever and seemingly invisible, they are able to exploit any security weak-ness and anticipate Fisk’s every move . . . and time is running out.

Review: I received this ARC for free after clicking on a link within a Shelf Awareness e-mail. I received no monetary compensation and the following review is my honest opinion of the book.

This book is due to be released 12/26/12.

PLEASE NOTE – This review WILL contain SPOILERS. Read on at your own risk.

Wowzers! This book is a fast-paced, thrill-ride of a read! I am very familiar with Dick Wolf’s name – I used to be a Law & Order junkie (the only reason I no longer am is because other good shows kept coming out during the same time slot, boo! Plus I’m an old school fan – I miss Lennie)

Anyway, that’s not to say that this book was perfect. It really isn’t. First of all, I sincerely hope that the final copy has a very good editor – there were a lot of typos in my ARC (more than in any other ARC I’ve ever read). Sorry, I’m a grammar fanatic.

But what really irritated me … SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER …. how in the heck can you kill off one of the main characters in the first book?! I mean, honestly. I never saw that one coming. And if this is supposed to be part of a series, why would you introduce such an important person only to have them gone by the end of the first book? It just seemed like an unnecessary move, in my opinion. And to be completely honest here, the story being told is really from Krina’s point of view – and yet, she’s killed off in the end? I don’t know – I think that it might have been a really bad character/series development move in my opinion. You just don’t do that in the first book if you intend to have a series, but maybe Mr. Wolf isn’t considering a very long series for Jeremy Fisk’s character. Who knows what the plans really are.

Personally, I think that this is a good book, but it definitely does have its flaws. But the storyline was relevant and interesting. The “bad guy” was a surprise to me. The build-up to the climax was well-done. Overall, it’s a good book and I would highly recommend it. However, I think that Mr. Wolf needs to realize that you can’t approach a book series in the same manner as you would a TV series. Once he conquers that, I think he will be a very impressive novelist. I look forward to reading the next Jeremy Fisk book.

Highly recommended.

3/5, AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, Fiction, K, RATING, Read in 2011, READING CHALLENGES 2011

2011.54 REVIEW: The Blue Edge of Midnight by Jonathon King

Tara

The Blue Edge of Midnight
by Jonathon King

Copyright: 2002
Pages: 265
Rating: 3/5
Read: Sept. 11– Sept. 13, 2011
Challenge: Take a Chance Challenge 3
Yearly Count: 54
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: On a night that will haunt him forever, ex-cop Max Freeman killed a twelve-year-old child in self-defense in a Philadelphia shootout. Since then he has lived a solitary existence on the edge of the Florida Everglades, where he answers to no one save the demons tormenting his conscience. But when he finds the corpse of a child along a shadowy riverbank, he’s pulled back into the twisted maze of law and order – as a murder suspect. Now Freeman has no choice but to hunt down a killer who has committed the unthinkable – even if it takes him to the darkest places of the soul…

Review: I only picked up this book to fulfill a challenge requirement. While it would not be my favorite book, it wasn’t a bad book. There was just something about the book itself that bothered me. I don’t know if it was the (what I call) flowery dialogue. By this I mean that there were long, drawn-out descriptions in places where it (in my opinion) was unnecessary. But then again, I am not a fan of a lot of words, as I’ve said before here on my blog, I’m a “just the facts, ma’am” type of girl. Or if it was just the fact that I didn’t really get the main character, Max. He was a strange guy, there were a lot of unknowns about him and he just was … strange. That’s the only way I could describe it. Honestly, I’m not sure I will ever read any more in this series, I just didn’t get the book. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but it definitely wasn’t great. In the words of Simon Cowell, it was utterly “forgettable.”

3.5/5, AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2011, READING CHALLENGES 2011, Review Book, U-V-W

2011.38 REVIEW – Lonely Deceptions by D.R. Willis

Tara

Lonely Deceptions
by D.R. Willis

Copyright: 2011
Pages: 193
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: July 25 – July 27, 2011
Challenge: Criminal Plots Reading Challenge; TwentyEleven Challenge
Yearly Count: 38
Format: Print
Source: Review Copy

Blurb: After Nick accidentally overhears a conversation between Lou Evans – his boss and owner of Lou-Paul Machine Shop – and a mysterious person, he unwittingly becomes a pawn in a game of international proportions. When Lou gruffly asks him to take possession of prototype blueprints, Nick has no idea that the blueprints contain a dark secret – a secret with the potential to kill. Combined with unwanted attention from a local police officer as well as a skeletal, dangerous former FBI agent, Nick’s normal life is suddenly not that at all, and no one can guarantee his safety – not even the beautiful FBI agent who has been assigned to the case. Lou may not be who he says he is, and, unfortunately for Nick, his downfall may be that he is the best machinist around and the only one Lou can count on to help him carry out a perilous mission.

Review: I received this copy to review courtesy of Hannah at BohlsenPR. Overall I thought the book was good, but there were some weird spots for me. First, I felt as if the beginning was slow and confusing. It took nearly 60 pages before I started to understand what was going on. And then at the end, when the big secret was revealed, I wasn’t all that impressed. I suppose I was expecting it to be a bigger conspiracy by the way it was played up throughout the entire book, either that or I missed something. That being said, the middle of the book was really good. I felt that this had the best writing, the best storyline and the best character development. This book read as if it could be the first in a planned series. I’m not sure what the plans are for this author, but I feel as if a second book in this series could definitely answer some questions that I had. My curiosity would lead me to want to read another book with Nick Davis as the main character. But like I said, I’m not sure that there is a plan for a series, the ending just left it open for the possibility. Overall, I would recommend this book as it was an enjoyable read.

4/5, AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, F, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2011, READING CHALLENGES 2011, SERIES

2011.27 REVIEW – Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

Tara

Blood Oath
by Christopher Farnsworth

Copyright: 2010
Pages: 470
Rating: 4/5
Read: May 29– June 3, 2011
Challenge:  TwentyEleven Challenge
Yearly Count: 27
Format: Print

First Line: After two extended tours in Iraq, Army Specialist Wayne Denton thought he’d never be cold again.

Blurb: Zach Barrows is a cocky, ambitious White House employee working his way toward becoming the youngest chief of staff in history. But Zach’s political rise takes an unexpected turn when he’s abruptly transferred out of the White House and partnered with Nathaniel Cade, a secret agent sworn to protect the president. But Cade is no ordinary servant. Bound 140 years ago by a special blood oath, Nathaniel Cade is a vampire. On the orders of the president he defends the nation against enemies far stranger – and far more dangerous – than civilians like Zach could ever imagine. And as a new threat looms, Zach has to learn to work with his undead partner, because the president’s vampire is the only thing standing between the American dream and total Armageddon.

Review: Okay, so obviously, this is not my normal type of book. I usually steer far clear from anything to do with vampires. It’s just not my thing. Mr. Farnsworth has a second book in this series that came out in April, I saw it mentioned on Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program. I was immediately intrigued, put my name in the hat for the book (did not win it) but did some more research and learned about this book, the first in the series. So I put Blood Oath on the back burner section of my brain to remember in the future. I was perusing my local Books-A-Million right before we went on vacation and saw the book on the shelf. I picked it up and bought it. Then I took it with me on vacation. It was my secondary book for vacation and I didn’t know if I would get to it. Well I did, and I was hooked almost from the first page, and read almost 50 pages in the first setting – when I had only intended to read for just a few minutes. I will admit though, that when I got to the very end and the “attack” begins, that’s where my “yeah, right” instincts began to sink in. But everything up to that point had been great and I honestly think it was just my natural reaction to anything with a paranormal/fantasy/vampire twist. Apparently Mr. Farnsworth is a screenwriter, and I will say that this book really read like it could be a really great movie. I’m definitely interested in reading the second book in this series, The President’s Vampire and hope to get to it soon (but doubt that I will, because I will not buy a hardback book new – hope my number comes up quickly on PBS!) So all in all, I would recommend this book. It was enjoyable, even for someone who does not normally read this type of book.