Category: Read in 2015

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, E-Book, Fiction, K, RATING, Read in 2015, Review Book, TLC Book Tours

2015.3 REVIEW – City of Liars and Thieves by Eve Karlin

Tara

City of Liar and Thieves
by Eve Karlin

Copyright: 2014
Pages: 266
Rating: 3/5
Read: Jan. 14 – Jan. 20, 2015
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 3
Format: E-Book
Source: TLC Book Tours
Series: N/A

City of Liar and ThievesBlurb: A crime that rocked a city. A case that stunned a nation. Based on the United States’ first recorded murder trial, Eve Karlin’s spellbinding debut novel re-creates early nineteenth-century New York City, where a love affair ends in a brutal murder and a conspiracy involving Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr erupts in shattering violence.

It is high time to tell the truth. Time for justice. . . . How she was murdered and why she haunts me. It is not only Elma’s story, it’s mine.

On the bustling docks of the Hudson River, Catherine Ring waits with her husband and children for the ship carrying her cousin, Elma Sands. Their Greenwich Street boardinghouse becomes a haven for Elma, who has at last escaped the stifling confines of her small hometown and the shameful circumstances of her birth. But in the summer of 1799, Manhattan remains a teeming cesspool of stagnant swamps and polluted rivers. The city is desperate for clean water as fires wreak devastation and the death toll from yellow fever surges.

Political tensions are rising, too. It’s an election year, and Alexander Hamilton is hungry for power. So is his rival, Aaron Burr, who has announced the formation of the Manhattan Water Company. But their private struggle becomes very public when the body of Elma Sands is found at the bottom of a city well built by Burr’s company.

Resolved to see justice done, Catherine becomes both witness and avenger. She soon finds, however, that the shocking truth behind this trial has nothing to do with guilt or innocence.

Review: I received a copy of this book for free in conjunction with a TLC Book tour, all opinions expressed below are my own.

When I was first pitched this book I was immediately intrigued. I love a good historical fiction novel based on a true crime story from the past. It takes two of my favorite things – true crime/mysteries and history – and blends them together in a way that I love to read about! So I was really excited to read this book!

Overall, it wasn’t necessarily a bad book. But I felt like the blurb might have been a little bit misleading. I expected more Hamilton/Burr than I got out of this book. I also wasn’t quite prepared for the sheer amount of political references.

But I will say this, I loved the scene that was portrayed by Ms. Karlin. She really brought nineteenth-century New York City to life for me. And definitely made me appreciate the modern conveniences we have and take for granted!

So while this story was a little more politically involved than I had been prepared for, I still enjoyed it quite a lot. I learned about a murder trial I had never heard about before. I felt like I was walking the streets of New York City in 1799. And it was just an overall entertaining read.

Recommended!

About the Author: Eve Karlin was born and raised in New York City. She is a graduate of Colgate University, where she studied literature and creative writing with Frederick Busch. Karlin worked in publishing for more than a decade in marketing, at Random House, Newsweek, and, later, as a foreign book scout with clients in the United Kingdom, Italy, Holland, Brazil, and Japan. She has had several short stories published in The East Hampton Star and has been a contributing writer for Patch.com. She lives in East Hampton, New York, with her husband and their sixteen-year-old triplets. City of Liars and Thieves is her first book.

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Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

GIVEAWAY! There is also a giveaway available in conjunction with this tour. The winner will receive a $25.00 gift card to the e-book retailer of their choice and one copy of City of Liars and Thieves. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE GIVEAWAY PAGE. 

As always, I hope you take the time to visit the other stops on the tour:

Tuesday, January 6th: Mystery Playground
Wednesday, January 7th: Bibliophilia, Please
Friday, January 9th: Fiction Zeal
Monday, January 12th: Omnimystery News – author guest post
Tuesday, January 13th: Dwell in Possibility
Tuesday, January 13th: Kritter’s Ramblings
Wednesday, January 14th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Friday, January 16th: Reading Reality
Monday, January 19th: From the TBR Pile
Tuesday, January 20th: Sarah’s Book Shelves
Wednesday, January 21st: A Fantastical Librarian
Thursday, January 22nd: Chew & Digest Books
Monday, January 26th: History from a Woman’s Perspective
Tuesday, January 27th: Tales of a Book Addict
Wednesday, January 28th: Staircase Wit
Thursday, January 29th: 100 Pages a Day… Stephanie’s Book Reviews
Friday, January 30th: Books in the Burbs
TBD: Back Porchervations

4/5, AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, F, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2015

2015.2 REVIEW – Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye

Tara

Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson
by Lynsday Faye

Copyright: 2009
Pages: 322
Rating: 4/5
Read: Jan. 11 – Jan. 14, 2015
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 2
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy
Series: N/A

Dust and ShadowBlurb: From the gritty streets of nineteenth century London, the loyal and courageous Dr. Watson offers a tale unearthed after generations of lore: the harrowing story of Sherlock Holmes’s attempt to hunt down Jack the Ripper.

As England’s greatest specialist in criminal detection, Sherlock Holmes is unwavering in his quest to capture the killer responsible for terrifying London’s East End. He hires an “unfortunate” known as Mary Ann Monk, the friend of a fellow streetwalker who was one of the Ripper’s earliest victims; and he relies heavily on the steadfast and devoted Dr. John H. Watson. When Holmes himself is wounded in Whitechapel during an attempt to catch the savage monster, the popular press launches an investigation of his own, questioning the great detective’s role in the very crimes he is so fervently struggling to prevent. Stripped of his credibility, Holmes is left with no choice but to break every rule in the desperate race to find the madman known as “the Knife” before it is too late.

A masterly re-creation of history’s most diabolical villain, Lyndsay Faye’s debut brings unparalleled authenticity to the atmosphere of Whitechapel and London in the fledgling days of tabloid journalism and recalls the ideals evinced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most beloved and world-renowned characters. Jack the Ripper’s identity, still hotly debated around the world more than a century after his crimes were committed, remains a mystery ripe for speculation. Dust and Shadow explores the terrifying prospect of tracking a serial killer without the advantage of modern forensics, and the result is a lightning-paced novel brimming with historical detail that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Review: I have signed up for a few challenges on some Goodreads groups this year, and one of the requirements in one of the challenges was to read an author debut. This is the book that I chose. It’s also been sitting on my shelf since 2009, when I received it from Paperbackswap….

Personally, I was hooked by “Jack the Ripper” and “Sherlock Holmes.” I mean, hello? Do I even have to explain any further than that?! To be completely honest, I’m not all that familiar with the Jack the Ripper case, except for the very bare bones (i.e. London, Whitechapel, 1880s, extremely vicious murders – literally, that’s the extent of my knowledge). I also never really read very many Sherlock Holmes stories. But that didn’t hamper my enjoyment of this very interesting historical fiction blend.

Overall, the book flows quite well. I felt like I was right there in London with Sherlock and Watson. Ms. Faye sets the scene effortlessly. She keeps it interesting without going too far to the side of gore that revolves around Jack the Ripper. I felt that she really had a great grasp of Sherlock’s “voice” too.

I enjoyed this one, a lot. I would definitely recommend it. It’s a fun book that has me wanting to know more about the Jack the Ripper case!

3.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Dirk Pitt, Fiction, P, RATING, Read in 2015, SERIES

2015.1 REVIEW – Vixen 03 by Clive Cussler

Tara

Vixen 03
by Clive Cussler

Copyright: 1978
Pages: 362
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Jan. 1 – Jan. 4, 2015
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 1
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy
Series: Dirk Pitt #5

Vixen 03Blurb: 1954. “Vixen 03” is down. The plane, bound for the Pacific carrying thirty-six Doomsday bombs — canisters armed with quick-death germs of unbelievable potency — vanishes. Vixen has in fact crashed into an ice-covered lake in Colorado. 1988. Dirk Pitt, who heroically raised the “Titanic,” discovers the wreckage of “Vixen 03.” But two deadly canisters are missing. They’re in the hands of a terrorist group. Their lethal mission: to sail a battleship seventy-five miles up the Potomac and blast Washington, D.C., to kingdom come. Only Dirk can stop them.

Review: I have already declared 2015 the year that I will be reading what I want, when I want. The pressure is off. No review copies will be coming in (unless they look really good …… I have no self-control, after all). So when I went “shopping” on my shelves for the first book to start off 2015 with, this was the one that stuck out to me.

And I found it to be a really fun read. It really caught my attention from the beginning with Vixen 03 going missing and then Dirk finding it in Colorado. To be honest, I felt like the middle portion of the book was the weakest. I personally could have done without the African political storyline. It just made the book drag on in my opinion. When the story centered back on Dirk and the bombs, it picked back up again.

I would recommend it, but I have a feeling that it probably isn’t the best installment in the Dirk Pitt series. But I am definitely looking forward to catching up a bit more in this series this year …. there’s only a gazillion more books to go 🙂