Category: 3/5

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, H, RATING, Read in 2014, SERIES, Sookie Stackhouse

2014.15 REVIEW – Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

Tara

Club Dead
by Charlaine Harris

Copyright: 2003
Pages: 258
Rating: 3/5
Read: March 24 – Mar. 29, 2014
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 15
Format:  Print
Source: Personal copy (PBS)


Club DeadBlurb: There’s only one vampire Sookie Stackhouse is involved with (at least voluntarily) and that’s Bill. But recently he’s been a little distant – in another state, distant. His sinister and sexy boss Eric has an idea where to find him. Next thing Sookie knows, she is off to Jackson, Mississippi to mingle with the under-underworld at Club Dead. It’s a dangerous little haunt where the elitist vampire society can go to chill out and suck down some Type O. But when Sookie finally finds Bill – caught in an act of serious betrayal – she’s not sure whether to save him … or sharpen some stakes.

Review: Okay, so this is the third book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. And I have to tell you … I was a little bit disappointed in it. I have enjoyed the first two books quite a bit. But this one fell flat for me. It felt forced. And I hate to say it … I couldn’t stop thinking about how much Sookie was reminding me of Bella from the Twilight books … she was so freaking whiney in this installment that it just about drove me bonkers. To be completely honest, if this book had been the first in the series, I never would have read the second one. That’s how much this one did not work for me.

I’m not giving up on this series yet. I still have the next two books, but if they aren’t better than this one … well. We’ll just have to see after that. Hopefully this book was just a random fluke in this series and the next one will be better.

So I’m curious, if you’ve read this series (I know, I’m terribly behind to the party on this one!) did this one fall flat for you? Does it get better again in the next one? Let me know your thoughts!

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, G, RATING, Read in 2014, READING CHALLENGES 2014

2014.3 REVIEW – The Hostage by W.E.B. Griffin

Tara

The Hostage
by W.E.B. Griffin

Copyright: 2006
Pages: 750
Rating: 3/5
Read: Jan. 2 – 16, 2014
Challenge: Eclectic Reader Challenge; TBR Pile Challenge
Yearly count: 3
Format: Print
Source: Personal copy

The HostageBlurb: An American diplomat’s wife is kidnapped in Argentina, and her husband murdered before her eyes. She is told her children will be next if she doesn’t tell the kidnappers where her brother is – a man who may know quite a bit about the burgeoning United Nations/Iraq oil-for-food scandal. There is an awful lot of money flying around, and an awful lot of hands are reaching up to grab it, and some of those hands don’t mind shedding as much blood as it takes – even if that blood comes from Charley Castillo…

Review: I have had this book on my shelf since early 2009. I knew it had to make my list for the TBR Challenge if nothing else to at least get it read or otherwise off my shelf as a DNF. I also picked it up first for that challenge because at 750 pages I knew I should get it out of the way immediately if possible.

This is the second in Presidential Agent series. I read the first one, By Order of the President, back in 2008. I knew going into it that I was going to have absolutely no recollection of the characters or storyline from that first book. That always makes me a little apprehensive, but in all honesty, it has no impact on this book. There are a few references to the first book, but for the most part this book reads quite well as a stand-alone.

Overall I was not incredibly impressed by this book. I honestly think that some serious editing could have occurred to cut the page number down to a more reasonable number without missing too much of the story. Looking over the notes I took as I read this book, around the 300 page mark I commented that there was a lot of unnecessary repetition. I feel very strongly that this is very much the case with this book. I would be going along reading only to get to the end of the chapter and Mr. Griffin would have the characters pretty much just sum up everything that just happened in the chapter. Very unnecessary in my opinion and only added to the page count.

The actual storyline was interesting at first, but as the book progressed things kept spiraling and more things were added to the story and I eventually started feeling a little bogged down. And the ending … or should I say, what ending? There are so many questions left hanging that I was a little disgusted. All this lead-up … all 700+ pages of it and no resolution? You mean you want me to read the next 700+ page book in this series to find out the conclusion to this book? No thank you, not at this time.

That pretty much sums up exactly what I felt about this book.

Overall I wouldn’t say it’s bad. It just wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea. Military-esque books are out of my comfort zone. Plus the length was a little bit of an issue for me. But if that’s your thing you’ll probably enjoy this one.

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Lucas Davenport, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, S, SERIES

2013.43 REVIEW – Shadow Prey by John Sandford

Tara

Shadow Prey
by John Sandford

Copyright: 1990
Pages: 342
Rating: 3/5
Read: Oct. 8 – Oct. 16, 2013
Challenge: Off the Shelf Challenge; RIP VIII; 2013 Sequel Challenge
Yearly count: 43
Format: Print
Source: Personal copy

Blurb:  A slumlord and a welfare supervisor butchered in Minneapolis . . . a rising political star executed in Manhattan . . . an influential judge taken in Oklahoma City . . . All the homicides have the same grisly method — the victim’s throat is slashed with an Indian ceremonial knife – and in every case the twisted trail leads back through the Minnesota Native American community to an embodiment of primal evil known as Shadow Love. Once unleashed, Shadow Love’s need to kill cannot be checked, even by those who think they control him. Soon he will be stalking Lucas Davenport — and the woman he loves…

Never get involved with a cop: Lieutenant Lucas Davenport has been warning women for years, but now he finds himself on dangerous ground with a policewoman named Lily Rothenburg, on assignment from New York to help investigate the murders. Both have previous commitments, but neither can stop, and as their affair grows more intense, so too does the mayhem surrounding them, until the combined passion and violence threaten to spin out of control and engulf them both. Together, Lucas and Lily must stalk the drugged-out, desperate world of the city’s meanest streets to flush out Shadow Love — not knowing they are now the objects of his deadliest desires….

Review: This is the second book in the Lucas Davenport series.

Last year I read and reviewed the first book, Rules of Prey. I gushed and gushed about how wonderful that book was. For whatever reason, I never picked this one up (and it’s been sitting on my shelves for a long time).

Unfortunately … this one wasn’t as great as the first book. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it was terrible, but it definitely wasn’t wonderful. I had a really hard time getting into the actual storyline. And that really made it difficult to push through. But I never thought about abandoning it, I was going to finish it (even if it did take me forever…). I also had a problem with Lucas’ womanizing in this installment. I knew that Lucas was a womanizer after reading the first book, but it was really bad this time around. I suppose it’s because he has a new baby girl, Sarah, with Jennifer and he had supposedly offered marriage numerous times to her (she keeps denying him), and yet he hops into bed almost immediately with his partner from New York. And he pretty much tells Lily and Jennifer that he just can’t help it. I don’t know, it bothered me. It just didn’t ring true to me.

Overall, I’m not going to be giving up on this series just yet. Mr. Sandford’s writing is really good. I think I just really had a problem with the storyline in this one. It just didn’t work for me.

Not a bad book, but not one I would highly recommend.

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, E, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2013, SERIES, Taylor Jackson

2013.30 REVIEW – Where All the Dead Lie by J.T. Ellison

Tara

Where All the Dead Lie
by J.T. Ellison

Copyright: 2011
Pages: 392
Rating: 3/5
Read: July 6 – July 12, 2013
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 30
Format: Print
Source: Personal copy

Blurb: In her showdown with the murderous Pretender, a bullet taken at close range severed the connection between Taylor’s thoughts and speech. Effectively mute, there’s no telling if her voice will ever come back. Trapped in silence, she is surrounded by ghosts – of the past, of friendships and trusts lost … of a lost faith in herself and her motives that night.

When Memphis Highsmythe offers Taylor his home in the Scottish Highlands to recuperate, her fiancé can’t refuse her excitement, no matter his distrust of the man. At first, Memphis’s drafty and singularly romantic castle seems the perfect place for healing. But shortly the house itself surrounds her like a menacing presence. As Taylor’s sense of isolation and vulnerability grows, so too does her grip on reality.

Someone or something is coming after Taylor. But is she being haunted by the dead … or hunted by the living?

Review: This is a hard review for me to write. I am a huge fan of the Taylor Jackson series. But this book left me a little flat. I think my problem with it is that it is nothing like the previous Taylor books. It is completely different and at times I had to wonder what on earth Ms. Ellison was thinking at the time. It really wasn’t until the very end of the book that it felt like we got to actually see the Taylor that the readers know. I wouldn’t say that I necessarily disliked this book, because I really didn’t, but if this is the end of the Taylor Jackson series, I’m not sure that Ms. Ellison did Taylor justice.

I had a big problem with the change in setting. This series has always been set in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve always liked that – I live about 2.5 hours from Nashville and go down there occasionally. But in this book it is set in Scotland. It felt like it was way out in left field at times too, honestly. There is no doubt that the author definitely did her research in regards to this new setting, but I think it was just too drastic of a change for my liking.

It’s hard not to like Taylor Jackson. I’ve always liked her. And I pitied her in this book, and that’s not something that I ever wanted to do. At the same time I was a little more than frustrated with her. She knew better than to go off to a foreign country with a man like Memphis! I didn’t like what that did to Baldwin … and she didn’t even seem to care at first. It wasn’t until she really got there that she realized that she hadn’t given Baldwin a fair shake in everything.

I don’t know. It’s really hard to explain my feelings on this book. Overall, I’m glad that I read it. But if this is really the last Taylor Jackson book (I don’t know that it is – I just know that Ms. Ellison has taken off with a spin-off series with Sam’s character) I feel like it could have been wrapped up better. But then again, maybe I’m just bummed because I really don’t want Taylor’s series to end. Who knows. I might add that this book could probably be read as a standalone, just because it is so different from the other books, but then you would be spoiling a lot of the storyline with Memphis in the earlier books.

Bottom line: Recommended, but probably only to die-hard fans of this series.

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Dirk Pitt, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2012, SERIES

2012.19 REVIEW – The Mediterranean Caper by Clive Cussler

Tara

The Mediterranean Caper
by Clive Cussler

Copyright: 1973
Pages: 248
Rating: 3/5
Read: July 21 – 30, 2012
Challenge: None
Yearly Count: 19
Format: Print
Source: Personal copy

Blurb: On an isolated Greek island, a World War I fighter plane attacks a modern U.S. Air Force base…a mysterious saboteur preys on an American scientific expedition…and Dirk Pitt plays a deadly game of hunter and hunted with the elusive head of an international smuggling ring. Dirk Pitt, intrepid hero of Clive Cussler’s smash bestsellers Dragon, Sahara, and Inca Gold, is hot on the trail of a mammoth drug conspiracy controlled by a missing Nazi War criminal. On land and in the depths of the Aegean, Pitt trouble shoots his way through one of his most daring, desperate adventures!

Review: This is the second in the Dirk Pitt series. I had recently acquired I it and picked it up because I was needing a book that was short and full of adventure. This book fit that bill to a certain extent.

This is the third Dirk Pitt book I have read. And like the other two books, I was left feeling a little “blah” about this book. It wasn’t necessarily bad, because it really wasn’t. It’s just that it wasn’t anything amazing that I will remember 3 months from now.

To be completely honest I’m still scratching my head trying to figure out how on earth Dirk put everything together at the end. It made me wonder if I had missed something in the book, was there some clues that I overlooked?

Now my confusion really doesn’t take away my overall opinion of the book. However, the numerous typos throughout the book really didn’t help what I thought of the book at all. I am such a stickler for grammar and for some reason this book really needed more editing. Maybe this is something that gets fixed in later editions, seeing as how my copy isn’t the most recent. I must say that the sheer amount of typos probably dropped my rating of this book down considerably.

Now that I have been a little negative about this book, let me tell you some of the more positive aspects. It was definitely a fun read. It’s such a great adventure. I find it amazing at the sheer amount of trouble Dirk manages to find himself in. How he gets out of some of the spots he finds himself in is quite amazing. I wouldn’t necessarily call it unbelievable, but sometimes it could be considered to be very close to that description.

Overall, I liked this book. Had it not been for the grammatical errors throughout the book, I would have enjoyed this book a lot more. But I still enjoyed it and look forward to hanging out with Dirk Pitt again soon in the future.

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, H, RATING, Read in 2012, READING CHALLENGES 2012

2012.11 REVIEW – Under Cover of Daylight by James W. Hall

Tara

Under Cover of Daylight
by James W. Hall

Copyright: 1987
Pages: 368
Rating: 3/5
Read: April 24 – May 4, 2012
Challenge: Off the Shelf 2012
Yearly Count: 11
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: As a young child, Thorn survived the hit-and-run accident that killed both his parents. Years later, he settled the score his way – but never defeated the guilt. Now in Florida’s torrid, drug-ridden Keys, violence once again strikes too close to home. This time, Thorn finds himself with a passionate and angry woman at his side … and dope-dealing hit men at his back. This time, Thorn can leave vengeance to luck – or once again, against his conscience, become an avenging killer.

Review: I have to be completely honest in this review: this was not my favorite book. I will say that it was not necessarily a bad book. It just wasn’t one for me.

It started out quite interesting. But then something happened around the middle of the book and I just kind of found it to be boring after that.

As I said earlier, there’s nothing particularly bad about this book. It just didn’t appeal to me. I want to say that part of my problem with it is that as the reader I knew too much to early; there was no surprise/twist ending, and that’s what I love most about reading. I think the only reason that I kept reading it is because it actually read rather quickly when I sat down with the book.

But just because it wasn’t a book for me doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a book for someone else, so while I wouldn’t give it a glowing, raving review, I wouldn’t discourage others from trying it either.

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, AUTHOR, Book Review, E-Book, Fiction, G, RATING, Read in 2011, Review Book

2011.46 REVIEW – Connected by Kathryn Gayle

Tara

Connected
by Kathryn Gayle

Copyright: 2011
Pages: 267
Rating: 3/5
Read: Aug 15 – Aug. 19, 2011
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly Count: 46
Format: E-Book
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program

Blurb: The last thing Delilah Preston wanted to do was be a hero, but when she finds herself in a position to prevent an assassination, her conscience wouldn’t let her walk away. As a result, she gets caught up in an FBI investigation and the media spotlight. The problem? Delilah Preston is not who she claims to be. Seven years ago she fled from a cruel and sadistic husband, a powerful underworld figure who wants her back, dead or alive. Enter Special Agent Dominic Santiago who discovers Delilah’s true identity and realizes that after many years of dead-ends, she’s his ticket to taking down notorious crime boss Cap Grimaldi. But Cap isn’t about to let anyone threaten his family’s empire, and quickly devises a plan to not only discredit the Federal Monkey on his back, but also recover his errant wife and the fortune she took from him when she fled.

Review: I received this E-Book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. First of all I must start out by saying that this book did not immediately draw me in. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was going to like where this book was going. It wasn’t until about 100 pages that the book started to improve for me and I really got interested in it. There were some, “yeah, right”, moments … those where I just couldn’t wrap my mind around them. I also felt as if the ending was a little bit rushed. Now, negative stuff aside, I enjoyed the book overall. I felt as if the writing was strong. The storyline was interesting. I enjoyed the characters, they were all interesting and well-developed. I would definitely recommend this book.

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, D, Fiction, Goldy Schulz, RATING, Read in 2011, SERIES

2011.22 REVIEW – The Last Suppers by Diane Mott Davidson

Tara

The Last Suppers
by Diane Mott Davidson

Copyright: 1994
Pages: 272
Rating: 3/5
Read: May 2 – 7, 2011
Challenge:  No Challenge
Yearly Count: 22
Format: Print

First Line: Never cater your own wedding reception.

Blurb: It should be the happiest day of Goldy’s life. The Colorado caterer is about to tie the knot witht he man of her dreams, homicide detective Tom Schulz. But minutes before the ceremony is to begin, Tom phones with an urgent message: The wedding is off, and the reason is murder! Tom was on his way to the church when he stopped to pick up Father Olson – and found the rector shot and dying. Yet by the time Tom’s fellow officers arrive at the crime scene, Tom has disappeared, leaving behind a notebook that contains a cryptic message. Has the groom been abducted by the killer? Or has he gotten cold feet and walked out of Goldy’s life? For better or worse, Goldy needs to know the truth. So she puts her exquistely decorated wedding cake on ice and begins to search for clues. What she quickly discovers is that her fiance’s life – and her future happiness – depend on her ability to decipher Tom’s note. For only it can lead her to an unsavory killer whose unholy passion may make Goldy a widow before she’s a widow.

Review: This is the fourth in the Goldy Schulz series. I didn’t find this one as enjoyable as the first three, personally. Overall, it was a good mystery, but it was too religious and preachy at times for my liking. I understood that the mystery itself revolved around the murder of a priest, but it just went one step too far with the religious aspect for my personal taste. I am very curious as to where the next book in this series goes, now that Goldy and Tom are married and Julian got into Cornell. The transition that should be found in the next book will be very interesting, I think. Although this will not be a favorite book of mine in this particular serise, I still recommend this series to everyone (at least those who have been living under a rock and had just now gotten around to reading these books)

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Dismas Hardy, Fiction, L, RATING, Read in 2011, READING CHALLENGES 2011, SERIES

2011.18 REVIEW – The Vig by John Lescroart

Tara

The Vig
by John Lescroart

Copyright: 1990
Pages: 376
Rating: 3/5
Read: April 4– 8, 2011
Challenge:  TBR Dare
Yearly Count: 18
Format: Print

First Line: At 2:15 on a Wednesday afternoon in late September, Dismas Hardy sat on the customer side of the bar at the Little Shamrock and worked the corners of his dart flights with a very fine emery board.

Blurb: Down-and-out lawyer Rusty Ingraham left behind a murdered woman and a houseboat splattered with blood. All the evidence said Ingraham was in San Francisco Bay. Dead. But a friend of Ingraham’s, former cop and prosecutor Dismas Hardy, isn’t so sure. And Hardy has to find out, because a stone-cold killer, now paroled, once threatened to kill Ingraham and Dismas Hardy both. Now, to save his own skin, Dismas must face down liars and killers on both sides of the law. From mob foot soldiers to brokenhearted lovers to renegade cops, a dozen lives are tied to the fate of Rusty Ingraham – and the payback has only just begun…

Review: Whoever edited this book should be fired. Immediately. I can’t even begin to tell you how many different grammatical errors I spotted in this book. And I also had trouble with the amount of different characters that were presented in this book. I found myself not remembering who was who. However, that didn’t change my overall opinion of the book itself. I read the first book in this series, Dead Irish, almost three years ago. So it was really like starting the series all over again since I didn’t remember much from the first book. But that was okay, I still enjoyed this book. It actually stands well on its own. The mystery aspect of it was interesting, but it was not a really big surprise. I liked this book, but I think I now realize why after reading my review from the first book as to why I’m just now picking this book up, it wasn’t specatular, just good.