3.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, D, Nonfiction, RATING, Read in 2013, Review Book

2013.44 REVIEW – True Hollywood Noir by Dina Di Mambro

Tara

True Hollywood Noir: Filmland Mysteries and Murders
by Dina Di Mambro

Copyright: 2013
Pages: 229
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Oct. 16 – Oct. 22, 2013
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 44
Format: Print
Source: The Cadence Group

Blurb:  In a tantalizing, suspenseful, and entertaining mixture of classic Hollywood nostalgia and true crime, explore some of the most fascinating scandals, mysteries and murders in Filmland history – true Hollywood noir lived by the players behind the scenes. Viewers were captivated by the drama of the black and white masterpieces of the silver screen … the noir films with swirling cigarette smoke; high balls on ice; murky, rain-soaked nights; and ill-fated plots between gangsters and grifters, hard-boiled detectives, and duplicitous gorgeous women – which paled in comparison to what was going on behind the scenes.

Uncover the true stories in a dozen different chapters featuring William Desmond Taylor, Thomas Ince, Jean Harlow, Thelma Todd, Joan Bennett, Lana Turner, George Reeves, Gig Young, Bob Crane, Natalie Wood, Robert Blake, and Mickey Cohen. Included in the cast of characters of this book are Johnny Stompanato, William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, and Charlie Chaplin. And find never before told mob stories about Ben “Bugsy” Siegel, and Virginia Hill. Get the theories behind each case in this page-turner – then draw your own conclusions as to the truth behind some of the most prominent Hollywood mysteries.

Review: I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Rebecca at The Cadence Group.

I was immediately intrigued by the blurb of this book. I used to be a huge true crime junkie. Over the years I’ve gotten out of the habit of reading true crime (but I still have a stack of those books on my shelves!). So I really jumped at the opportunity to read this book.

When I first got this one in the mail, I flipped through it. I realized that I could easily jump around with the chapters. And that’s exactly what I did. I started out with the chapters on the people who I was not familiar with and moved on to the ones that I was more familiar with. I felt like this was a really good way for me to enjoy this book.

I remember very well watching the Robert Blake trial on CourtTV, so I was really interested in seeing what the author had to say in that chapter. I also highly enjoyed the Natalie Woods chapter because it’s a case that I knew the bare bones about, but it really sparked my interest when it was back in the news more recently.

But the one chapter that I felt was a little off from the others was the Mickey Cohen one. I finally got to watch the movie Gangster Squad earlier this year, so I only really had that to go on in reference to what I knew of Cohen. But I was a little surprised as to how this particular chapter was approached. It was almost two times as longer as any other chapter in the entire book, and it was almost glowing … definitely not something that I expected in regards to Cohen. But then the author ends with something that really made me wonder if it wasn’t glaringly obvious as to who the young girl she references was….

Overall I am very glad that I was given the opportunity to read this book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in true crime or short biographies.

Meme

My Life According to Books 2013

Tara

This meme originates with Pop Culture Nerd.

Last year I remember seeing this around the blog-o-sphere and wanted so badly to participate. But since I had Garrett in May last year I had barely read anything and couldn’t fill it out completely and decided to try to watch out for it this year. So I was super excited to see it start to make the rounds again this year! Here goes:

My to-do list looks like: The Never List (Koethi Zan)

If a peeping Tom peeked into my bedroom, he’d: [see] Evidence of Life (Barbara Taylor Sissel)

If martians meed me, they’d think: The One I’d Left Behind (Jennifer McMahon)

My doctor is always telling me: [I’m on] The Edge of Normal (Carla Norton)

The weirdest thing that happened this past week: If You Were Here [you’d know] (Alafair Burke)

I often daydream about: The Trajectory of Dreams (Nicole Wolverton)

The government shutdown makes me: [want a] Transfer of Power (Vince Flynn)

If I win the lottery, I’d: [do] Untold Damage (Robert K. Lewis)

My superpower is: Arctic Fire (Paul Byers)

I knew I was a book lover when: [I was] Blindsighted [by Stephen King in high school] (Karin Slaughter)

My blogging experience has been: [a tale of] Resurrect [time after time] (David E. Stevens)

 

What fun! Hope you join in as well 🙂

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.

Recipes

RECIPE: Shrimp Fajitas

Tara

Shrimp Fajitas

  • 1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 4 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro, divided
  • 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
  • 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 cup (8 ounces) fat-free sour cream
  • 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • 1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into thin strips
  • 1 medium green pepper, cut into thin strips
  • 8 flour tortillas (6 inches), warmed
  • 1/2 cup salsa

 

 

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, toss shrimp with 2 tablespoons cilantro, 1 tablespoon oil and spices; let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix sour cream and remaining cilantro.
  2. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and peppers; cook and stir until crisp-tender. Remove from pan.
  3. In same pan, heat remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add shrimp; cook and stir until shrimp turn pink. Return onion mixture to pan; heat through. Serve with tortillas, salsa and sour cream mixture.

Recipe Source: Taste of Home

Shrimp Fajitas

Personal Review: I love just about anything Mexican. Fajitas are one of my absolute favorites, though. I’m always on the look-out for new recipes and this one caught my eye in my Sept/Oct 2013 issue of Taste of Home. I tore it out and decided that I would make it this week.

I tell you what really caught my eye with this recipe … the cilantro. Hubby is a huge fan of cilantro (me, not so much, but I don’t hate it). So I knew for sure that he would like this recipe.

I was right. It’s a quick and easy meal to get prepped and cooked. It’s a good taste too. It’s supposed to be a little bit healthier for you. You might notice in my picture there’s no sour cream … that’s because I do not like sour cream all that much and left it off of my serving (I used a bit of salsa instead). But hubby used the sour cream and thought that the cilantro added to it really added a good taste.

Definitely a recipe that will go in my keeper binder!

I served it with a big plate of cheesy nachos (totally ruining any chance of being healthy!) and chips and salsa.

4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, E-Book, Fiction, N, NetGalley, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, Review Book

2013.42 REVIEW – The Edge of Normal by Carla Norton

Tara

The Edge of Normal
by Carla Norton

Copyright: 2013
Pages: 316
Rating: 4/5
Read: Sept. 30 – Oct. 7, 2013
Challenge: RIP VIII
Yearly count: 42
Format: E-Book
Source: NetGalley

The Edge of NormalBlurb: In many ways, Reeve LeClaire looks like a typical twenty-two year old girl. She’s finally landed her own apartment, she waitresses to pay the bills, and she wishes she wasn’t so nervous around new people. She thinks of herself as agile, not skittish. As serious, not grim. But Reeve is anything but normal.

Ten years ago, she was kidnapped and held captive. After a lucky escape, she’s spent the last six years trying to rebuild her life, a recovery thanks in large part to her indispensable therapist Dr. Ezra Lerner. But when he asks her to help another girl rescued from a similar situation, Reeve realizes she may not simply need to mentor this young victim—she may be the only one who can protect her from a cunning predator who is still out there, watching every move.

Review: This is another great book that grabbed me from the first page and spit me back out at the end.

But I just want to stop feeling like I have this ugly part of myself that no one can possibly understand. I want to have a normal life and be a normal adult. (p. 26)

From the very beginning you know exactly what has happened to Reeve. When she was 12 years old she was kidnapped. She suffered a lot of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse during the four years that she was being held by the psychopath who took her. And all she wants is to be normal. She can’t be faulted for wanting that more than anything. So she’s been seeing her therapist, Dr. Lerner. The reader can tell in the first few pages that Reeve is an intelligent woman who appears to have bounced back rather well from her past. Sure she’s got some issues still, but nothing that I would consider out of the ordinary considering what she went through. But you really don’t see who Reeve is until she is asked by Tilly’s family to come and meet with them. It is here that we are really introduced to an extremely strong woman. Stronger than she gives herself credit for.

This is really quite the suspenseful book. You know from the beginning that there is more to the story than the police officials are aware of. That made it even more interesting for me as far as all the questions being answered. It’s really interesting to see Reeve really put herself out there and investigate for herself. She makes a promise that she does not under any circumstances want to have to break, so she must do things her own way. I felt like that really made the storyline interesting … it was just one more insight into Reeve’s character as a whole.

I have to admit that there were more than a few times that I was a little suspicious of some of the main male characters. My suspicions were completely off the mark, but I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like had the author taken things a different route. Maybe I just wanted to make a mountain out of a molehill 🙂 There are some open-ended possibilities for Ms. Norton to bring Reeve back in another book. I like that there is an opening for that. It would be definitely interesting to see if Reeve goes back to school as Dr. Lerner has suggested to her.

Overall, I felt like this was a great book. It’s not for the faint of heart, but I don’t think that the author went into too much detail that it felt overly gratuitous in any way. I’m definitely looking forward to Ms. Norton’s future in fiction writing!

Highly recommended.

Recipes

RECIPE: Easy Mexican Calzones

Tara

Easy Mexican Calzones

  • 2 refrigerated pie crusts, room temperature
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 can diced green chiles
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 package taco seasoning
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • Garnish: salsa, shredded lettuce, sour cream, sliced green onion

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425.
  2. Brown beef and drain. Add the chiles, water and seasoning mix; mix well.
  3. Place unwrapped pie crusts on cutting board; unfold. Cut each crust in half, making 4 half circles. Place 1/2 cup beef filling on half of each half circle. Place 1/4 cup cheese on top of each. Dampen edge of crust with water. Fold sides over filling; crimp edges with a fork. Place on an un-greased baking sheet.
  4. Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Garnish as desired.

Recipe Source: LuvRRecipes Yahoo group

Mexican Calzones

Personal Review: I copied this recipe down from a Yahoo recipe group I belong to and thought it sounded really good. And easy. Easy is always a good thing in my house 🙂

If any of you follow Trish on Twitter, you might have seen her tweet a link this morning to a “nailed it” cooking post. It was really funny, and I have to tell you that the pretty picture you see above is not how the very first calzone I sealed up looked like. It was definitely a “nailed it” moment that I really wish I would have taken a picture of. I was ashamed of how it looked and I shouldn’t have been. By the way, I should tell you guys that we ate 3 of the 4 calzones that we made … want to guess which one didn’t get consumed? Ha! The “nailed it” one 🙂 Moving on…

Overall this is a really simple recipe. I cooked it for 18 minutes waiting for it to turn golden brown. It never turned that color and I think I might have overcooked it just a smidge while waiting for that to happen. So I definitely recommend watching that if you try this recipe. Also, I highly recommend using a good salsa for a garnish. (I can be a salsa snob.) I smeared salsa all over my calzone (after the picture was taken of course) and it was so yummy. Hubby smeared salsa and dolloped sour cream on his.

I served it with tortilla chips and salsa and mexican rice. Definitely an easy weeknight meal that I highly recommend and will be adding to my keeper recipe binder!

wkendcooking

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, E-Book, Fiction, L, NetGalley, RATING, Read in 2013, Review Book

2013.32 REVIEW – Top Down by Jim Lehrer

Tara

Top Down 
by Jim Lehrer

Copyright: 2013
Pages: 246
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: July 19 – July 23, 2013
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 32
Format: E-Book
Source: NetGalley

Top DownBlurb: In a riveting novel rooted in one of American history’s great “what ifs,” Jim Lehrer tells the story of two men haunted by the events leading up to John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

November 22, 1963. As Air Force One touches down in Dallas, ambitious young newspaper reporter Jack Gilmore races to get the scoop on preparations for President Kennedy’s motorcade. Will the bubble top on the presidential limousine be up or down? Down, according to veteran Secret Service agent Van Walters. The decision to leave the top down and expose JFK to fire from above will weigh on Van’s conscience for decades. But will it also change the course of history?

Five years after the assassination, Jack gets an anguished phone call from Van’s daughter Marti. Van Walters is ravaged by guilt, so convinced that his actions led to JFK’s death that he has lost the will to live. In a desperate bid to deliver her father from his demons, Marti enlists Jack’s help in a risky reenactment designed to prove once and for all what would have happened had the bubble top stayed in place on that grim November day.

For Jack, it’s a chance to break a once-in-a-lifetime story that could make his career. But for Van the stakes are even higher. The outcome of a ballistics test conducted on the grounds of a secluded estate in upstate New York might just save his life—or push him over the edge.

A page-turning historical novel with the beating heart of a thriller, Top Down could only have sprung from the fertile imagination of Jim Lehrer. Drawing on his own experience as an eyewitness to the events described, one of America’s most respected journalists has crafted an engrossing story out of the emotional aftershocks of a national tragedy.

Review:  I received a e-galley of this book through NetGalley.

Here’s the deal, guys, I am a JFK junkie to the core. It’s nearly an obsession, really. So with 2013 being the 50th anniversary of the assassination, you can imagine that there are a ton of books coming out this year that have to do with JFK and the assassination – both fiction and non-fiction. Already this year, not including this book, I’ve read one fiction book (The Man from 2063) and I have another non-fiction book lined up through Edelweiss. I am in hog heaven! Okay but seriously, I guess I need to get to the actual review of this book.

This book definitely has a different feel from any other book I’ve read recently. I don’t know, it’s kind of hard to describe. Part of me felt as if I was reading a memoir at times. I actually had to look up the info on it after reading the first chapter to see if I was reading fiction or non-fiction. But don’t let that scare you off, because the book reads quite easily. And it is fiction.

The cast of characters in this book, oh what a great bunch. First you have Jack, who is a reporter who actually reported on the Kennedy assassination from Dallas. In the beginning he describes a conversation he had with a Secret Service agent, Van, the day of the assassination regarding the bubble top on the presidential limo. Van made the call that the bubble top was to be removed (I must add that this is where I originally thought I was reading a memoir). That was the beginning of the end for Van. From there you meet his daughter, Marti, who is convinced her father is dying because of that one decision and how it affected him. All she wants from Jack is to help her prove to her father that his decision had nothing to do with Kennedy’s death – Oswald still would have taken that shot and Kennedy still would have died.

What this book really and truly is about is human emotions. Van is a broken man after the assassination. He blames himself for Kennedy’s death. But it doesn’t just end there. It turns his wife into an alcoholic and his daughter gets pushed away to boarding school. One little psychological break doesn’t just affect the person who has had the break … the whole family is impacted. Guilt is a very powerful emotion. And being through something as traumatic as a presidential assassination would do a number on any person.

Overall I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys anything JFK. Those who like historical fiction would probably enjoy this one as well. Past that, it might not appeal to just everyone. But overall definitely a book that I enjoyed to feed my JFK obsession.

3.5/5, AUTHOR, B, Book Review, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, Review Book, Virtual Author Book Tours

2013.37 REVIEW – Arctic Fire by Paul Byers

Tara

Arctic Fire
by Paul Byers

Copyright: 2011
Pages: 377
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Aug.18-29, 2013
Challenge: What’s in a Name Challenge
Yearly count: 37
Format: Print
Source: Author for blog tour

Arctic FireBlurb: Wealthy entrepreneur Nigel Cain has devised an efficient new way to bring the earth’s most precious resource to the masses – clean water – by transporting massive man-made icebergs from the frigid arctic and delivering them literally to the doorsteps of millions.

Gabriel Pike works at a small engineering firm that has been awarded the task of giving the final safety approval to pilot the first gigantic block of ice into New York harbor.

A consummate showman, Cain has built a fabulous 5-Star hotel and casino high atop the iceberg so his celebrity guests and media elite can cover this spectacle from beginning to end. Pike is whisked away from his work-a-day world and dropped into the lap of luxury where he’s expected to simply rubber-stamp his inspection.

A brutal winter storms ravages the iceberg and exposes structural inconsistencies and hidden agendas that fill Pike with serious doubts about the true intentions of the project.  But a grisly double homicide on the ice puts the inspections on the back burner and sends Pike’s life spiraling out of control when he’s accused of being the jealous murderer in a lover’s triangle.

But Pike soon discovers that there is far more at stake than just his life. He uncovers a conspiracy more heinous than anything he could have imagined – a plot that will level a city, change the political face of America, and whose shockwaves will be felt around the world. Fate rests in his hands – if he can survive long enough to take action…

Review: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review as part of his blog tour.

I don’t even know really where to begin about this book. Overall, it’s a good read. Definitely thrill packed and a wild ride. However, that’s not to say it’s absolutely perfect.

I don’t even really know how to explain my big issue with this book. At 377 pages, it’s not a terribly long book. However, when at least 300 pages are spent with the lead-up to the double homicide and conspiracy mentioned in the blurb, it felt a little bogged down. I’m not saying that those 300 pages were unimportant or not enjoyable. However, it sometimes felt as if things were a little more drawn out than what was necessary for the book. I just felt as if too much time was spent on the lead-up to what was really at stake with the iceberg. There was a lot of technical information that I, personally, did not need to enjoy or understand this book.

Now that all of that is said … I really don’t think that it’s a bad book. The last 100 pages or so were a lot of fun trying to figure out how Pike was going to get out of the mess he found himself in. Would “The Blast from the Past” be able to manage one more rescue?

I thought Gabriel Pike’s character was really interesting. There was a lot more to him than met the eye. He was a nice guy, but he could get his hands dirty when necessary. It was also interesting to watch how a normal guy can be manipulated. It can happen so very fast and without his really knowing what is going on. It definitely doesn’t take much to inflate a guy’s ego 🙂 But I did have a problem with how cookie-cutter clean he appeared to be. I don’t know, it just felt forced to me that he was so nice. But it definitely worked in the situation that his character was in. But the one character that really surprised me the most was Mallory. What a character she was! Nice on the surface, but ruthless underneath. Whew. Definitely a surprise to me to some extent.

I would definitely recommend this book. I thought it was a lot of fun and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to give it a shot.

About the author: 

PaulByers_RSC0029 (2)Paul grew up in Oregon on the shores of the mighty and mysterious Columbia River, and spent endless hours daydreaming on the beach in front of his house, making up stories about the ships from exotic ports all over the world that steamed up the river – what secret cargo might they be carrying; did they harbor spies who were on dark and exciting missions?

Later in adult life, he moved to another mysterious and provocative city – Las Vegas, just outside the famous Nellis Air Force base. After work he would sit on his porch and watch the fighters take off and land, igniting his imagination with visions of secret missions and rich speculation about what could possibly be hidden at Area 51.

After moving back to his native Pacific Northwest, Paul worked for the Navy and took every opportunity he could to speak with veterans from WWII to the Gulf War, listening to them swap stories and relate the experiences of a lifetime.

So it is this combination of a passionate love of history, a vivid “what if” imagination, and a philosophy of life that boils down to the belief that – there are few things in life that a bigger hammer won’t fix – that led Paul to become a writer of exciting, fact-based action-thrillers. His greatest joy is leaving his readers wondering where the facts end and the fiction begins.

Author Website

Paul on Facebook

Paul on Goodreads 

Buy Arctic Fire:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Check out the rest of the tour:

So Many Precious Books Sept 2 Review & Giveaway
Book Lover’s Library Sept 3 Review
Book Lover’s Library Sept 4 Interview & Giveaway
She Treads Softly Sept 4 Review
Books, Books, & More Books Sept 5 Review
Books, Books, & More Books Sept 6 Interview & Giveaway
Cheryl’s Book Nook Sept 9 Review
Butterfly-o-Meter Books Sept 10 Review
Butterfly-o-Meter Books Sept 11 Guest Post
 My Shelf Confessions Sept 12 Review
 My Shelf Confessions Sept 13 Interview & Giveaway
Room Without Books is Empty Sept 16 Review
A Book & a Lattee Sept 17 Review
Green Mountain People Sept 18 Review
Thoughts in Progress Sept 18 Guest Post & Giveaway
Romance & Inspiration Sept 19 Review
Bloggin Bout Books Sept 20 Review
The News In Books Sept 23 Review
The News In Books Sept 24 Guest Post
Sweeps4Bloggers Sept 24 Review & Giveaway
Tales of a Book Addict Sept 25 Review
Joy Story Sept 26 Review
fundinmental  Sept 27 Review & Giveaway
Recent Reads Sept 30 Review & Giveaway
DWED Oct 1 Review

vabt-highresolution

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.)