Category: SERIES

4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, H, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, SERIES, Sookie Stackhouse

2013.50 REVIEW – Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Tara

Living Dead in Dallas
by Charlaine Harris

Copyright: 2002
Pages: 291
Rating: 4/5
Read: Nov 29 – Dec. 9, 2013
Challenge: Off the Shelf 2013
Yearly count: 50
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is on a streak of bad luck. First, her coworker is murdered and no one seems to care. Then she’s face-to-face with a beastly creature that gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn’t enjoy it).

Point is, they saved her life. So when one of the blood-suckers asks for a favor, she complies. And soon, Sookie’s in Dallas using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She’s supposed to interview certain humans involved. There’s just one condition: The vampires must promise to behave – and let the humans go unharmed. Easier said than done. All it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly…

Review: This is the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I’m kind of unsure why I waited so long to start it because I’m quite enjoying it.

Overall this is a good book. It actually felt a little darker and grittier than the first installment did. It was definitely a lot more violent (if that’s not your cup of tea). But I wouldn’t consider it over the top on violence at all where it was not enjoyable … and trust me I don’t have the stomach for that stuff that I used to so I’m a pretty good judge of it now.

I’m really intrigued by the Bill/Sookie, Sookie/Eric, Eric/Bill thing that is going on. It’s obvious that Eric wants what he can’t have, but I can’t help but wonder if Sookie isn’t just a little curious about Eric either. I think it will be quite interesting to see where Ms. Harris takes all these characters.

As I said, it’s really a good book. The storyline was interesting. The writing was excellent. And it’s just a fun book in general.

Highly recommended.

3.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Kay Scarpetta, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, SERIES

2013.49 REVIEW – The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell

Tara

The Scarpetta Factor
by Patricia Cornwell

Copyright: 2009
Pages: 572
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Nov 18-29, 2013
Challenge: Off the Shelf 2013
Yearly count: 49
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: It is the week before Christmas. A tanking economy has prompted Dr. Kay Scarpetta – despite her busy schedule and her continuing work as the senior forensic analyst for CNN – to offer her services pro bono to New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In no time at all, her increased visibility seems to precipitate a string of unexpected and unsettling events, culminating in an ominous package – possibly a bomb – showing up at the front desk of the apartment building where she and her husband, Benton, live. Soon the apparent threat on Scarpetta’s life finds her embroiled in a surreal plot that includes a famous actor accused of an unthinkable sex crime and the disappearance of a beautiful millionaire with whom her niece, Lucy, seems to have shared a secret past.

Scarpetta’s CNN producer wants her to launch a TV show called The Scarpetta Factor. Given the bizarre events already in play, she fears that her growing fame will generate the illusion that she has a “special factor,” a mythical ability to solve all her cases. She wonders if she will end up like other TV personalities: her own stereotype.

Review: Faithful readers will know that I gobbled up the first 15 books in this series rather quickly (nearly back-to-back, really) a few years back. Then I hit a wall (like a lot of Cornwell readers seem to experience) and took a big break in reading these books. I read Scarpetta, book 16, in July of 2012. And for whatever reason, I decided to pick this one up now. I will say that these books are not as good as her earlier books; they are not even close to her older stuff. But I guess for one a year it’s not too terrible.

I think my main issue with this book is how l-o-n-g it seemed. At times it felt like it would never end; other times the pages flew by. But overall it might have been a tad too long (or it might just have been the fact that I picked this 500+ page chunker of a book up immediately after reading a 500+ page chunker before it…)

Once again I felt as if the characters weren’t like they used to be. Lucy is just down right angry. Like all the time angry. Benton sometimes feels like he’s not even there emotionally. I still can’t forgive Marino for what he did. Kay is changing too it seems. Or maybe it’s just me wanting these books to be like the earlier installments were and they just aren’t anymore.

Either way, this series is not as good as it once was. But I will probably continue to read one a year. Why? Because I have a very hard time breaking up with authors….

4/5, Alexander Hawke, AUTHOR, Author Debut, B, Book Review, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, SERIES

2013.48 REVIEW – Hawke by Ted Bell

Tara

Hawke
by Ted Bell

Copyright: 2003
Pages: 596
Rating: 4/5
Read: Nov 9-17, 2013
Challenge: Off the Shelf 2013
Yearly count: 48
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

HawkeBlurb: A direct descendant of a legendary English privateer, Lord Alexander Hawke is one of England’s most decorated naval heroes. Now, in the Caribbean on a secret assignment for the American government, Hawke must disarm a ticking time bomb – a highly experimental stealth submarine carrying forty nuclear warheads that has fallen into the hands of an unstable government just ninety miles from the U.S. mainland. But Hawke’s mission is twofold, for he has returned to the waters where modern-day pirates brutally murdered his parents when he was a boy – after a lifetime of nightmares, will vengeance be his at last?

Review: That moment when you realize that it’s been more than a week since you last read this book and have finished another one since then … and you know that you won’t do this review justice. *Sigh* Good thing I wrote down some notes immediately after finishing this book.

This is the first book in the Alexander Hawke series and overall it was pretty good. I did find that the beginning was a little slow to start. However, once the action really picked up (about the halfway mark), the book was just a non-stop roller coaster ride.

At 596 pages this is definitely a chunkster. And it’s my opinion that it might have been just a little too long. I don’t want to say that it necessarily dragged on endlessly, but it probably could have been shortened and tightened up a bit and not lost a whole lot.

I really enjoyed the characters. Alex is a complicated man with a troubled past (his parents were murdered when he was a boy; he witnessed the murder but his mind has blocked it). Victoria is interesting as well, I think there’s a lot more to her than we really get to see in this first book. It will be interesting to see how their love story plays out. And Ambrose … what a character! Funny! Overall the main characters are well-developed and interesting in their own way. Which definitely helps set up for what I hope will be a good series!

I think if I *had* to complain about something it would really be the multiple storylines. I sometimes had trouble remembering who belonged in what storyline and what was really going on in that particular storyline. It was a little overwhelming at times and I even found myself asking “what is this storyline again?” Nothing that is necessarily terrible, but something that I did struggle with (could have also just been my sporadic reading as well, though).

Overall a good book that I enjoyed and a great first book in what I hope turns out to be a good new series for me (…as if I need another series to keep track of…)

4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, P, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, SERIES, Women's Murder Club

2013.45 REVIEW – 11th Hour by James Patterson

Tara

11th Hour
by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Copyright: 2012
Pages: 387
Rating: 34/5
Read: Oct. 23 – Oct. 27, 2013
Challenge: Off the Shelf Challenge; RIP VIII; 2013 Sequel Challenge
Yearly count: 45
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

11th HourBlurb:  Boxer is pregnant at last! But her work doesn’t slow for a second. When a millionaire is mercilessly gunned down, Lindsay discovers that the murder weapon is linked to the deaths of four of San Francisco’s most untouchable criminals. And it was taken from her own department’s evidence locker. Anyone could be the killer – even one of her closest friends. Lindsay is next called to the most bizarre crime scene she’s ever seen: two bodiless heads displayed in the garden of a world-famous actor. After another head is unearthed, Lindsay realizes that the ground could hide hundreds of victims. Then a reporter launches a series of vicious articles about the cases, and Lindsay’s personal life is laid bare. But this time she has no one to turn to – especially not Joe.

Review: James Patterson is my go-to author when it comes to trying to break out of a slump. I had picked up and put back down about 4 books prior to picking up this one. So it was a no-brainer for me to choose a Patterson book, I just had to decide which one (I have two other books of his). This one has been on my shelf for a while, so I chose it just because it was the Patterson book I have had the longest.

Overall, this is another good installment in the Women’s Murder Club series. I really enjoyed the dual story lines. They were both interesting cases which needed Lindsay’s undivided attention…. but she took on both cases at the same time. I did have a little issue with this in a way. As someone who has been through an easy pregnancy, I couldn’t help but shake my head at how Lindsay’s pregnancy is being portrayed. I was absolutely worn out, and there would have been no way I could have ever gone all day without eating … working 10-12 hours wasn’t going to happen either. So I was a little irritated as to how this was shown to the readers, it just wasn’t realistic at all and it irritated me at times.

However, I did like that the “Club” was back in action in this book. It was fun to see Claire, Lindsay, Cindy and Yuki trying to solve the case together again! It seems like this has been a missing piece in the last few installments of this series. And that really is a shame, because that’s what this series is all about! We as readers need those four characters working together to solve the case, it’s a great dynamic when they’re together!

I will say that while the killer really wasn’t a huge shocker, it was a little bit of a surprise to me. I had it narrowed down to three people and the actual killer was in that pool of three, but I hadn’t figured it out completely. That always makes for a fun read in my opinion.

Having looked back over my review of the previous book in this series, I had complained about the lack of editing for that book. I can say that this book did not have those issues, so I was glad to see that whatever the problem was regarding that was resolved for this book.

Overall, another good read. Mr. Patterson might not be the best author out there (he’s just prolific), but it’s always a fun and quick read that I enjoy. Even though this is the 11th book in the series, I wouldn’t say you would be missing anything terribly important if you picked this one up first.

Recommended.

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.

4.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, E-Book, Edelweiss, Fiction, H, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, Review Book, SERIES

2013.41 REVIEW – Darkness First by James Hayman

Tara

Darkness First
by James Hayman

Copyright: 2013
Pages: 346
Rating: 4.5/5
Read: Sept. 27 – 30, 2013
Challenge: RIP VIII
Yearly count: 41
Format: E-Book
Source: Publicist/Edelweiss

Darkness FirstBlurb: In the dark shadows of a summer evening a young woman is brutally slain by a remorseless killer’s razor sharp blade. Learning that her closest childhood friend was nearly killed in the same incident, Portland Detective Maggie Savage rushes to the scene to join the State Police investigation. Maggie soon discovers the killer’s name is Conor Riordan.  There’s only one problem.  Conor Riordan doesn’t exist.

The only person who can provide a clue as to who Riordan really is, is the victim’s eleven-year-old sister, Tabitha. And now Tabitha has turned up missing.  Soon Maggie and her longtime partner, Detective Sergeant Michael McCabe, find themselves in a desperate race against time to find the missing child before she becomes a vicious killer’s next victim.

Taut, twisting, and starring two unforgettable heroes, DARKNESS FIRST is a gruesome thriller about a small town rocked by a savage crime.

Review: I was made aware of this book through Danielle Bartlett, publicity director for HarperCollins. They are starting a new digital imprint: Witness. This is just one of ten books starting the line, which will focus on digital first suspense and thriller books.

Having had to put aside two books this month already for not catching my attention, I was really feeling the start of a slump coming on. All I can say is, thank goodness for this book!

I was enthralled with it from the first page. It’s a really good book. I must warn you, this is apparently the third in the McCabe and Savage series. However, it’s the first book that features Savage as the protagonist. I had no idea it was part of a series; it wasn’t until after I finished it and was looking online for information to write up this review that I discovered it. So obviously, it reads quite well as a standalone.

The pacing in this book was very well done in my opinion. It moved rather quickly, I was pushing the button on my Nook as fast as it would allow me to! The writing is exceptional and the characters very well-developed. Overall, definitely an author I will keep an eye out for in the future. I’m very interested in not only reading the back story of McCabe and Savage from the previous two books, but also finding out what happens in the future with Emily and Tabitha, McCabe and Savage, Harlan and their father. Overall, a great cast of characters I’m looking forward to meeting again.

The only reason I can’t bring myself to rate this book a 5/5 is that I had the bad guy pegged within the first 100 pages. While not necessarily a buzz kill for the book itself, it was a little disappointing to not have the big reveal at the end be a jaw-dropper.

Overall definitely a book that I would highly recommend and I am definitely looking forward to some of the other books Witness will be releasing in the coming weeks!

About the author: James Hayman spent more than twenty years as a senior creative director at one of New York’s largest advertising agencies. He and his wife now live in Portland, Maine.  He is the author of the acclaimed thrillers The Cutting and The Chill of Night, both international bestsellers.

Click here to go to Witness’ homepage.

3.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, G, Jane Rizzoli, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, SERIES

2013.39 REVIEW – Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen

Tara

Last to Die
by Tess Gerritsen

Copyright: 2012
Pages: 423
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Sept. 12-19, 2013
Challenge: RIP VIII; 2013 Sequel Challenge
Yearly count: 39
Format: Print
Source: Personal copy

Last to DieBlurb: For the second time in his short life, fourteen-year-old Teddy Clock has survived a massacre. Orphaned once more when his foster family is murdered, the traumatized teenager has nowhere to turn – until the Boston PD puts Detective Jane Rizzoli on the case. Jane spirits Teddy to the exclusive Evensong boarding school, a sanctuary where young victims of violent crime learn vital skills of survival. But even behind locked gates, Jane fears that Evensong’s benefactors aren’t the only ones watching. And when she learns of two other students whose pasts bear a shocking resemblance to Teddy’s, it becomes chillingly clear that a circling predator has more than one victim in mind. Joining forces with medical examiner Maura Isles, Jane races to stop an obsessed killer’s twisted quest – before an unspeakable secret dooms the children’s fate.

Review: This is the 10th book in the Rizzoli and Isles series. And I couldn’t help myself from comparing it to the TNT television series. The books and TV show are nothing alike. And having just watched all of the summer season, it was still fresh in my mind and that’s why I couldn’t help but compare them. I’m not saying that if you like one you won’t like the other, but just know that they are very different and you can’t really compare them.

Overall I thought this was a pretty decent installment in the series. But I couldn’t help but wonder how much longer Ms. Gerritsen will continue with this series. You finish this book with a big question mark, one of the characters appears to want a change in scenery … what will that do to the series?

Most of this book is set at Evensong, a private boarding school. I thought that it was a neat setting. Julian is back in this book and is very prominent in the plot line. That was fun seeing Maura and Julian back together. The Mephisto Club was also mentioned again.

There was a slight twist at the end that I wasn’t entirely anticipating. Part of it I was, the other part not so much. I can’t say much more than that without getting into spoiler territory.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. However, this is one of those that I think you really need to have read the previous books to fully understand all the dynamics (At the very least, The Mephisto Club installment.)

4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, H, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, SERIES, Sookie Stackhouse

2013.38 REVIEW – Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Tara

Dead Until Dark 
by Charlaine Harris

Copyright: 2001
Pages: 292
Rating: 4/5
Read: Sept. 5-8, 2013
Challenge: Off the Shelf 2013; RIP VIII
Yearly count: 38
Format: Print
Source: Personal copy

Dead Until DarkBlurb: Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She’s quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn’t get out much. Not because she’s not pretty. She is. It’s just that, well, Sookie has this sort of “disability.” She can read minds. And that doesn’t make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He’s tall, dark, handsome – and Sookie can’t hear a word he’s thinking. He’s exactly the type of guy she’s been waiting for all her life…

But Bill has a disability of his own: He’s a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of – big surprise – murder. And when one of Sookie’s coworkers is killed, she fears she’s next…

Review: I am probably the only person on the planet who has neither read the Sookie Stackhouse books nor seen the HBO series TrueBlood. Why? Well, first of all, vampire books are not my thing. It just isn’t. But having read Ms. Harris’s Harper Connelly series a few years back, I knew that Sookie had to be worth a shot.

And it was a lot of fun.

There were a lot of times when I wanted to shake some sense into Sookie. I mean, I get that she has her disability. But then she gets involved with a vampire? Okay. But it’s everything that comes along with being involved with a vampire that I didn’t get. And then you find out about her boss, Sam’s, own secret? Yeah, I had to roll my eyes just a little bit about that one (actually, I thought he was the murderer…).

Overall, I don’t know what I could possibly say about this book that hasn’t been talked about a million times before. It’s not as if it’s a new book that no one has read. So I guess I should just state that it’s a fun, humorous read and that I enjoyed it.

And hopefully I won’t wait so long to get to the second book 🙂

4/5, AUTHOR, B, Book Review, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, Sean King & Michelle Maxwell, SERIES

2013.33 REVIEW – Hour Game by David Baldacci

Tara

Hour Game
by David Baldacci

Copyright: 2004
Pages: 590
Rating: 4/5
Read: July 24 – Aug. 2, 2013
Challenge: Off the Shelf 2013; Sequel Challenge 2013
Yearly count: 33
Format: Print
Source: Personal copy

Hour GameBlurb: A woman is found murdered in the woods. It seems like a simple case but it soon escalates into a terrible nightmare. Someone is replicating the killing styles of the most infamous murderers of all time. No one knows this criminal’s motives … or who will die next.

Two ex-Secret Service agents, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, have been hired to defend a man’s innocence in a burglary involving an aristocratic, dysfunctional family. Then a series of secrets leads the partners right into the frantic hunt that is confounding even the FBI. Now King and Maxwell are playing the Hour Game, uncovering one horrifying revelation after another and putting their lives in danger. For the closer they get to the truth, the closer they get to the most shocking surprise of all.

Review: Wow, talk about a crazy roller coaster ride! Yes, this book is nearly 600 pages long, but trust me when I tell you that the pages fly by!

I read the first book in this series, Split Second, last year and enjoyed it. I’m not entirely sure why I waited so long to get to the second book, but I’m glad that I did read it. Better late than never 🙂

This book was full of twists and turns. I was constantly trying to figure out the “who-dun-it” part, and while I had it halfway figured out, there was one twist that I never saw coming … one that definitely threw me for a loop to be completely honest.

I really liked the characters in this installment. Of course Sean and Michelle were enjoyable, but the supporting cast were something else! The Battle family … just, wow. I can’t help but laugh at just how dysfunctional that family really was. Mr. Baldacci sure did create a crazy family in that one! Ha!

The storyline was interesting. There were multiple murders throughout the book and Sean and Michelle had to figure out which ones were connected to the others and which ones were separate. It definitely made for some thrilling moments. I really liked the copycat serial killers aspect, I thought that was an interesting way to take things.

Overall I would definitely recommend this book. I must say that while I always recommend reading a series in order, I don’t think you would necessarily miss anything if you read this one before Split Second.

4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, E-Book, Edelweiss, Fiction, K, Maggie O'Dell, RATING, Read in 2013, Review Book, SERIES

2013.27 REVIEW – Stranded by Alex Kava

Tara

Stranded
by Alex Kava

Copyright: 2013
Pages: 336
Rating: 4/5
Read: June 23-26, 2013
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 27
Format: E-Book
Source: Edelweiss

Blurb: Tired travelers and weary truckers have stopped at rest areas on the nation’s highways for decades to refuel, grab a bite, and maybe get some shut-eye, but one man’s rest stop is another’s hunting ground. For decades the defenseless, the weary, and the stranded have disappeared along the highways and byways, vanishing without a trace, but these seemingly unconnected incidents are no coincidence, and a madman stalks the freeways.

When FBI special agent Maggie O’Dell and her partner, Tully, discover the remains of a young woman in a highway ditch, the one clue left behind is a map that will send Maggie and Tully on a frantic hunt crisscrossing the country to stop a madman before he kills again.

As the body count rises and Maggie races against the clock to unmask the monster who’s terrorizing the nation’s highways, she turns to a former foe for help since he seems to know just what the killer’s next move will be. As she gets closer to finding the killer, it becomes eerily clear that Maggie is the ultimate target.

Review: I was over the moon excited when I found out that Alex Kava’s newest book was available to request on Edelweiss. I try not to request too much on Edelweiss or NetGalley. I’m not a huge fan of e-books in general, so I typically shy away from them altogether. However, Alex Kava’s Maggie O’Dell series is one of my absolute favorites and I couldn’t resist. You can imagine how excited I was when I was approved for it.

And let me tell you, dear readers, this was really a book I needed to read. I had been in a little bit of a slow slump, but I devoured this book in 3 days and loved every single word of it.

I don’t even know what to say about this book. The writing was good. The storyline was good. The character interaction and development was good. The killer was a surprise to me. I feel like Maggie O’Dell is back on top of the game with this book, and I was really excited about it!

I am really a fan of Maggie O’Dell’s character. She just seems so real to me. She’s likeable, she’s tough, she’s determined, she’s successful. And yet she’s flawed in some ways too, she has commitment issues. A few books back there was a big change-up with the characters, and at first I was not impressed. However, I must say that I really liked the direction Maggie’s boss is headed back in. There was very little mention of another character, highlighting Maggie’s commitment problem, so I’m kind of confused as to how Creed plays into the storyline in future books.

I’m excited to see what happens in future books. Between the introduction of Creed’s character and Gwen’s diagnosis, I am very interested in seeing where the series goes in the next book.

This is a series that I recommend to a lot of people, since for whatever reason, it doesn’t seem to be as well-known as some other series out there. There are a couple of duds in the series, in my opinion, but overall the series itself is extremely good.

Overall a great and exciting book for summer reading! Highly recommended.