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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0593437888
| 9780593437889
| 0593437888
| 4.14
| 6,652
| Nov 07, 2023
| Nov 07, 2023
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it was amazing
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 19, 2024
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Dec 31, 2024
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Nov 19, 2024
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Hardcover
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| B0C1QXJ5QH
| 4.64
| 205
| unknown
| May 09, 2023
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it was amazing
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We readers are a funny lot. The house could be falling down around us, and if we are completely ensconced in a book, we would keep reading. When one o
We readers are a funny lot. The house could be falling down around us, and if we are completely ensconced in a book, we would keep reading. When one of those books comes along, there is no greater pleasure for a reader. Well, Helpless, Zoe Chambers #12, by Annette Dashofy is certainly that book. It is as riveting a read as I’ve had in some time. Dashofy is a master plotter, with different points of focus that all work together in creating the urgency of action from beginning to end. There is not a scene in this book that isn’t on the edge of the difference between disaster and success. The pace is in sync with the rushing flood waters and the ticking of the clock. Time is no one’s friend in this story, and helpless is an all-pervasive feeling in the face of the disasters of nature and of man. It's a horrifying scene that a neighboring farmer arrives at when going to his friend’s house to fill sandbags for an approaching major storm to western Pennsylvania. Michelle O’Donnell lies dead on her kitchen floor and her husband Danny O’Donnell has been shot and pinned beneath a tractor. Their seven-year-old daughter Peyton is nowhere to be found. As law enforcement, including Vance Township Police Chief Pete Adams and his wife, Corner Zoe Chambers arrive on the scene, it’s also discovered that Danny had been working on the tractor, replacing a tire. The perpetrator drove the tractor onto Danny as he lay wounded and then sabotaged the tractor so it couldn’t be driven off the dying man. Unbelievably, Danny is still alive, and he’s able to tell them what happened, and that Peyton has been kidnapped. Pete and County Detective Wayne Baronick once again join forces and are now tasked with finding a cold-blooded killer, a sadistic monster, before the child can also come to harm. But, this killer is cunning and already has a head-start that doesn’t bode well for the authorities, and no one knows his identity. The severe weather from Hurricane Iona in New Orleans is a double-edged sword. While it prevents the killer from leaving the area, it also makes conditions near impossible for law enforcement chasing him. People who live in low-lying areas of Monongahela County are frantically trying to sandbag their houses and businesses and farms to keep flood waters out. Roadways are filling with water, creating conditions for cars to be swept away, and, trees are toppling onto roadways making the roads impassable. But, Pete and his deputies and Baronick won’t let the conditions surrounding them keep them from a full-out pursuit of a child in danger and her unstable kidnapper. Amber alerts are issued, with a vehicle description finally being put together, but the alert is only as good as the information is current, and when the perpetrator starts to switch vehicles, the new vehicle must be determined before adding to the alert. It’s a game of cat-and-mouse that couldn’t have occurred under worse conditions. And, the clock keeps ticking. Ordinarily, Zoe would head to the morgue where she would do the autopsy on Michelle, but Danny has asked her to stay with him, and that’s where she knows she has to be. Danny is the blacksmith for her horses and a friend as well, so her presence has a calming effect on him. A tent-like structure is set up over Danny and the rescue workers while the storm rages around them and rain pounds the canvas above their heads. Zoe’s former EMT partners are working tirelessly to try and keep Danny alive. Dr. Fuller arrives to help, which is outside of his usual duties, proving just how much everyone is invested in saving what’s left of this family. Danny’s friend Leroy, desperate to help, is sent after supplies to fix the tractor so they can drive it off Danny. Danny is fully coherent, and ironically, the pressure of the tractor is keeping him from bleeding out. And, the clock keeps ticking. With Helpless, Annette Dashofy has taken the Zoe Chambers series deeper into the chilling waters of suspense than ever before. She has set a frenetic, but controlled, pace of action, with intertwining plotlines that must all be resolved in less than 24 hours. Tick tock, tick tock. You will feel that clock ticking the time by with lives on the line. The storm will seem to grasp you in its relentlessness and fury, too. Dashofy takes all the moving parts and brings them together in perfect symphonic blending. Helpless is, of course, already on my Favorites List for 2023, and I’m positive that it will be on many others� favorites list, too. I know I’ve said this before, and it doesn’t take anything away from the books I said it about, but I do think this is the finest writing Annette Dashofy has produced. The author stated in a recent interview that writing this book was a daunting experience because “writing suspense is way out of my wheelhouse.� Well, Ms. Dashofy, I think you’re going to have to redefine your wheelhouse now. I received an e-copy of Helpless from the author and from NetGalley. My review reflects my honest assessment of this book. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 28, 2023
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May 2023
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Apr 28, 2023
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1801100209
| 9781801100205
| 1801100209
| 3.62
| 958
| Sep 2022
| Sep 01, 2022
|
it was amazing
|
One of my favorite settings for a mystery is the moors of England. Blackstone Fell is set in northern England in the small fictional village of Blacks
One of my favorite settings for a mystery is the moors of England. Blackstone Fell is set in northern England in the small fictional village of Blackstone Fell, where not only will you find a moor, but caves and a treacherous river and a sanatorium/asylum and a looming tower. All you need is some fog to complete the perfect atmospheric setting, and, oh, you get some of that, too. Now, the place setting is ready for the sinister secrets and disappearances and, well, murder that the peculiar inhabitants of such a setting are so adept at. Fall of 1930 is a time setting that makes the odd occurrences in the village most challenging to decipher and piece together to form a whole picture and more dangerous to investigate, as none of the modern resources of computers or cell phones are available. On the ground legwork, incognito snooping, and direct involvement with people is a necessity. One must get their hands dirty if answers are to be found. There are some resources, of course, for those who live in places with them, such as British Museum in London for newspaper reporting of disappearances and deaths. So, our snoops in Blackstone Fell, who hail from London, have a bit of an advantage over the village residents themselves. This new Rachel Savernake book starts out in a deliciously mysterious manner. Nell Fagan is chasing ghosts, or rather the disappearance of two men three hundred years apart. She also has an interest in a recent death at the Sanatorium. In the small village of Blackstone Fell, Nell has rented the very Lodge House from which the men disappeared, so she can live there and talk to the people who would have knowledge of the rumors and facts she needs. She has her work cut out for her, as the villagers do not take to strangers and even less to strangers asking questions. The sanatorium/asylum located there is a mystery itself and adds to the sinister atmosphere. Nobody seems to know exactly what goes on there. Nell is posing as a photographer who wants to do a photo story on the village, so her moving about the area is not a suspicious activity. But her disguise won’t last long, and her identity as a London journalist will be exposed. Her first attempt to visit the village pub and buy a round of drinks to ease her way into the community fails. The only people who talk to her at all are the vicar’s wife and the doctor. She soon realizes just how unwelcome she is when a boulder rolls down from the cliff and comes close to smashing her like it does her tripod. Nell knows that this was no accident; someone tried to kill her. There’s no shortage of suspects with the likes of piously querulous Reverend Quintus Royle, the creepily reclusive Alfred Lejeune, and any of the haughtily taciturn Sambrooks of the Sambrook Sanitorium. Nell takes a train back to London after her near brush with death, not giving up on her mission but trying to save it by engaging the best detecting mind she knows, a woman Nell describes “as sharp as a stiletto.� However, Nell has angered Rachel Savernake at an earlier time, so Nell must seek out assistance in getting an audience with Rachel in her fortress of a home, Gaunt House. Jacob Flint is the chief crime correspondent for the Clarion newspaper in London, and he knows Nell as a fellow reporter who is seasoned and sometimes a bit too outspoken. He knows that Nell has been blackballed on Fleet Street, home of the London newspapers, due to her earlier run-in with Rachel Savernake, and he also knows what an excellent reporter she is. Unfortunately, Nell’s habit of unreserved enthusiasm and single-mindedness is a handicap to her career, as she can be quite the bulldozer personality. The mystery she’s working on in Blackstone Fell could help get her back into the good graces of the newspapers though. Jacob is friends, as much as anyone can be a friend to the enigmatic Rachel Savernake, with Rachel and feels sorry for Nell, so he does manage to get Nell another interview with the reclusive Rachel. However, the second attempt to get Rachel interested in a project doesn’t go too well for Nell, as once again she withholds information and isn’t completely honest, which she agreed to be. Nell returns to Blackstone Fell and the Lodge to continue her investigations and face danger from someone who wants to silence her. Jacob has his own investigation of another issue for his paper. His boss is determined to expose the spiritualists/mediums who take advantage of desperate people wanting to make contact with their dearly departed ones. His editor, Gomersall, is enraged at this hoodwinkery, and it is Jacob’s assignment to get the goods on one of the perpetrators in this scheme of fleecing the bereaved. Jacob has his sights on one Ottilie Curle, who has risen to great prominence as one of the most successful spiritualists, giving those left behind one more chance to hear the voice of their loved ones. As a quid pro quo with Nell for him having gotten her the chance with Rachel, Nell agrees to help him gain access to a meeting Ottilie is having with Nell’s aunt. Ottilie is a pro through and through, and Jacob realizes just how challenging tripping her up will be. You may be wondering if Jacob’s assignment of exposing fake spiritualists is just an interesting interlude in the action of the mysteries at Blackstone Fell. All I can say is that the connection between the two provides for a most thrilling denouement. Rachel Savernake does become involved in the goings on at Blackstone Fell. Rachel admits she has “an unhealthy interest in murderers, especially those who masquerade as respectable.� She wants to know why they do it, since “by killing someone, they risk their own necks.� She also believes that justice “is much rarer than people like to think.� When someone dies a suspicious death by train in the underground, someone related to a person whose death Nell was investigating, and someone Rachel and Jacob were on their way to question, Rachel decides she must go to Blackstone Fell to solve the puzzles that are resulting in murder. As always, Rachel and her servants/companions work as a team in putting answers to questions, so Rachel and Hetty Trueman and Martha Trueman move into a cottage for rent, with the doctor and rector (and his wife) living as neighbors. Rachel has a cover story for her presence in Blackstone Fell, as does Cliff Trueman, who is staying at the local inn and pretending to be in the motor trade. All four in the ensemble have their roles to play if the darkness of Blackstone Fell is to be exposed. Of course, Jacob Flint is deeply involved in the investigation, too, both as a cohort to Rachel and a journalist wanting the big scoop. From beginning to end, Blackstone Fell had commonalities with Agatha Christie novels, and Christie’s novels made me fall in love with mystery/crime fiction years ago. The small village set-up of Blackstone Fell with the vicar and the vicar’s wife, the local doctor, the eccentric person living in a tower, a widowed major, the wealthy and secretive lords of the manor all serve to pull me into a thrilling cast of suspect characters. The ending is also reminiscent of Agatha Christie. Without spoiling any of the ending, I will simply say that all the major players hear the solution to all the puzzles and murders at the same time in that wonderfully familiar way of Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot. I rather enjoyed the way Rachel announces the guilty, as just when you think you’ve heard all the revelations, there seems to be one “but wait a minute� and then another. All the rocks are turned over to lay bare the wickedness beneath. In comparison to the familiar sleuths of Christie, Rachel Savernake seems a more modern sleuth, a more deliberate thrill seeker, and she comes with the team of her three capable servants, who are more like family and always have her back. Miss Marple and Poirot seem more old-fashioned and set in their ways. Rachel is a risk taker, often in contrast with her logical thinking skills. The Golden Age vibe is continued by the inclusion of a “cluefinder� at the end of the book. These were often a part of a Golden Age mystery, listing clues to the solution and the pages upon which they’re found. The second Rachel Savernake book had an ending of the same form as this third book and the fascinating cluefinders, too. Something else that Martin Edwards does that always drew me to the Agatha Christie books is choosing apposite words to use. It’s not that every word is eye-catching, but there are those greatly satisfying instances where a word just feels so congruous in its application. I think the timing for this series couldn’t be better, as more and more people seem to have taken an interest in Golden Age and classic mystery/crime fiction. I don’t know who better to write a new Golden Age mystery than the person who literally wrote the book on Golden Age mysteries. Martin Edwards has brought all his Golden Age knowledge and seasoned fiction writing talent to create this brilliant Rachel Savernake series for readers to savor. Blackstone Fell is my favorite Rachel Savernake yet, although I reserve the right to repeat that line after reading the next book. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 25, 2023
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Apr 28, 2023
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Apr 28, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 0063252341
| 9780063252349
| 0063252341
| 3.97
| 409,956
| May 12, 2022
| Aug 02, 2022
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it was amazing
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 07, 2023
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Apr 10, 2023
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Apr 07, 2023
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0062993399
| 9780062993397
| 0062993399
| 4.24
| 5,926
| Feb 07, 2023
| Feb 07, 2023
|
it was amazing
|
Deborah Crombie’s Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid series is one of those treasures in the reading world that once you discover, you hold all other read
Deborah Crombie’s Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid series is one of those treasures in the reading world that once you discover, you hold all other reading to its high standards. It quite simply checks every box for what makes a mystery/crime book complete. The mind of an author, especially a mystery/crime fiction author, is a place we readers long to visit, to see just how that character or plot or determination of who the murderer is comes to fruition. With Deborah Crombie, we know that the authenticity of her setting is formed by her time spent in London, researching for each book. The rest, the make-believe is a magic that, while I’d love to catch a glimpse of it as it is spinning in her brain, I’m just as happy to see it all come together in a book I both can’t put down and don’t want to end. A Killing of Innocents follows suit of the previous stories, giving readers an exciting police procedural, an authentic setting that pulls you in, characters who are masterfully developed, pacing that builds suspense and reveals in perfect rhythm with the story, and, of course, a story that keeps you spellbound. On a late, rainy November afternoon, Sasha Johnson, a doctor trainee, is pushing through the crowd of subway commuters in Russell Square when someone knocks up against her hard and she falls onto the grass, having been fatally stabbed. DSI Duncan Kincaid is called to the scene with the only witness a young child who saw the woman fall but nothing else. Surrounded by people, the victim was felled without anyone seeing anything unusual. The young woman is a stranger to Duncan and Doug Cullen, his sergeant, but a stranger they had seen in a nearby pub where they’d stopped for a drink. Young, beautiful, and a part of the medical profession, they are clueless as to why anyone would want to do her harm. She had been alone at the pub, but had also seemed to be waiting for someone. Since the crime is knife-related, Duncan calls in his wife, DI Gemma James, who is delighted to be called away from her new desk job as head of a knife crimes task force. DS Melody Talbot, Gemma’s second-in-command, also becomes somewhat involved in the case. The identity of the victim is no mystery, since her purse and wallet were not stolen and left with her. But, who would want this young woman dead? Was it a random killing or was she an intended victim? Soon, Duncan and Gemma discover that Sasha Johnson has ties to a family they know, a friend of their teenage son Kit. Wesley Howard’s sisters and Sasha grew up together as friends. The young woman’s family is devastated, and there’s some question as to whether her brother is in with the wrong crowd and put Sasha in harm’s way. While Duncan conducts the investigation and Gemma works at her new job, they have their three children and home life to juggle, too. Kit’s school and his working at a friend’s cafe, seven-year-old Toby’s promising ballet advancements, and four-year-old Charlotte’s lingering fears from her biological parents� deaths are all a lot. Hints at some changes on the home front are set up for further exploration in the next book. I trust the thoughtful parenting of this household to find solutions to balance between devotion to the job and devotion to the children. There is no shortage of suspects and theories in Sasha Johnson’s death, and this is where readers get to experience the police procedural at its best. Lots of interviews and record checking and going over and over the same ground to get to the truth. Family dynamics, roommates, and work relationships must be untangled. Duncan’s team are all vital to the successful outcome of this case, each contributing information and leads. One of my favorite parts of the investigation in this book is the brief undercover operation Gemma and DI Jasmine Sadina do together. I was thrilled to see more of Jasmine in this book and be surprised by a few things. Speaking of surprise, you won’t see the final twist coming that reveals the guilty, and you will enjoy every moment of being led astray by those pesky red herrings. The investigation is complicated by another murder, and by determining whether it and Sasha’s are connected or if there are two separate cases. Multiple characters tell this story, but there is never any confusion who is doing the telling, and the flow is a smooth, seamless continuation of plot. Even the italicized flashbacks of an unknown female character don’t distract, and, as readers will discover, are an integral element. The characters just don’t get any better than the ones in this series. Gemma and Duncan are both so level-headed. It seems no matter what is thrown at them, they tackle it together in a calm, sensible way, and they always consider what is best for their whole blended family, not just themselves. And, how Gemma and Duncan came together and how they came to be the family that they are is such a wonderful love story of unselfish bonding. Fans of this series are rightly devoted to the success of this endearing family. The secondary characters, who are connected to Gemma and Duncan through their work and their personal lives, are so much more than “secondary� characters with whom they have a casual relationship. All these diverse characters who have come together through cases and personal means have become part of an extended family, too. Deborah Crombie has developed all her characters with careful attention to these threads of connection. I can never get enough of them, and when specific story additions occasionally become permanent characters, it’s because the author has carefully seen their purpose for the already established group. Even the temporary characters for each story are revealed with deliberateness and mastery as the story unfolds. Deborah Crombie simply can’t create a character who isn’t interesting. I thought the interwoven connections of the new characters in A Killing of Innocents was particularly intriguing, and the revealing of the deadly connection was brilliant. In trying to read all the new books coming out and always being behind in that, I don’t have time to re-read series. In fact, I’m still trying to find time to fit in series I’ve not started yet that are on my must-read list. However, lately, I’ve been thinking how very much I’d love to re-read the Gemma and Duncan books from start to current. I do know for certain that if I were faced with that often-posed question for avid readers of what books would you want with you if stranded on a deserted island, I would choose this series without hesitation. A reader might feel it a daunting task to start a series that already has nineteen books in it, but I guarantee you that it will be one of the best reading decisions of your life to start this series at the beginning. Of course, for those of us who have been enthusiastic fans and readers of the series for years, each new book is reading bliss that we cherish. And, I will admit that you could read A Killing of Innocents without having read anything else in the series and thoroughly enjoy it. Of course, if you do that, you’ll be hooked anyway and will read the previous books. A Killing of Innocents now takes its place in the long line of outstanding crime fiction from Deborah Crombie, and I can hardly wait until the next installment. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 16, 2023
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Feb 18, 2023
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Feb 18, 2023
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 125084956X
| 9781250849564
| 125084956X
| 3.28
| 5,924
| Feb 07, 2023
| Feb 07, 2023
|
it was amazing
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You may want to up your anxiety meds before you read The House Guest by Hank Phillippi Ryan. Books are sometimes described as keeping you on the edge
You may want to up your anxiety meds before you read The House Guest by Hank Phillippi Ryan. Books are sometimes described as keeping you on the edge of your seat. It may be a cliché, but The House Guest does keep you perched precariously in just that position. I love the unreliable narrator in a book, but it wasn’t so much the narrator here but all the other characters I never could quite trust. I expected betrayal and deceit around every corner. If that’s not suspenseful, well, nothing is. Alyssa Maccallan is a young, thirtyish woman whose husband of eight years has just left her. She doesn’t have a clue as to why he’s left, and he’s only talking to her through their lawyers. Alyssa was a first-year law student when she met Bill Maccallan, and she fully intended to finish law school and pursue a rewarding law career, alongside her friend Mickey. But, Bill was a hugely successful fund raiser for charities, someone who came from riches and seemed to be paying it forward, so to speak. He was able to convince Alyssa, who was Alice before Bill changed her name, that she could do more with charity work than a law degree, and they married and moved into a house of everyone’s dreams. With this house in Boston, a house on Nantucket Sound, and a house in St. Bart’s, Alyssa was living a life she could have never imagined living. She planned and arranged events where other rich people would gladly give to a cause. Then, everything came to a sudden stop when Bill announced he was leaving. No more handsome husband, financial security, or friends. The “friends� all stayed with Bill, along with the social life. Alyssa is despondent and not crazy about rattling around in a huge house by herself, and the feeling that Bill has been slipping in and out of the house when she’s gone is weighing on her. She finds a bar at a hotel where her old “friends� wouldn’t be seen and gives herself a few moments of being surrounded by people. She meets another woman, Bree Lorrance, who is so down on her luck that Alyssa, in commiseration, wants to help her. Alyssa ends up inviting Bree to live in the guest house while Bree gets back on her feet. Being a friend to Bree brings even more new people into Alyssa’s life. Alyssa gets involved in Bree trying to find a relative, and in connection to that Dez Russo becomes a fixture in Alyssa’s house and life. Of course, at this point in the book, I’m having trouble reading for all the red flags I’m seeing. Or am I just being paranoid? Maybe going from alone and lonely to having people who seem interested in her, even concerned about her is a good thing. However, when the FBI takes an interest in Alyssa, who’s interested in her welfare and who’s planning her downfall is anyone’s guess. This cat and mouse game needs a score card. I had a bad feeling all the way through this book, just waiting for the bogey-man to jump out of the closet. I can’t remember ever reading a book where I distrusted so many characters. Even Alyssa is suspect at times, and there were plenty of times when I wanted to shout at her to do something different or not do something. I found myself wishing the story was one of those “Choose Your Own Adventure� books where I could choose what I thought was a better path for Alyssa. Of course, the fun, or excitement, of a book is those wrong choices that build the suspense and make us cringe. Hank Phillippi Ryan has been called a master of suspense by many, including Publisher’s Weekly, and it’s a well-earned title. The pace at which she discloses information and suspicions about the different characters through a glance or dialogue or odd action keeps the reader on the fence of hope that the particular character isn’t going to stab anyone in the back, literally or figuratively. The cat and mouse game between characters is a thing of beauty, an art that Ms. Ryan is particularly adept at. I’ve been unusually reticent in this review to describe the characters much, as their well-paced reveal, or should I say reveals, belong to the reader to discover. Besides, how does one describe shape shifting as it changes from one form to another. The House Guest is a story of misdirection and deception that bring the twists to the reader with a jolt. Some readers will be familiar with The Twister, an amusement park ride popular in days past. You would be riding around in the ride’s car and suddenly be jerked or twisted to one side. Well, this is the image you might want to keep in mind reading The House Guest. You will not expect it, but just know that the twists will come and you will be surprised, often. You will not guess the ending, with the final delicious twist awaiting. A perfect thriller. I’m grateful to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for an early copy of The House Guest. I still will have my own hardback from a favorite bookseller because it’s too amazing of a read not to have one. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 31, 2023
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Feb 07, 2023
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Jan 31, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 1542037581
| 9781542037587
| B09VGK9R84
| 4.14
| 19,892
| Jan 01, 2023
| Jan 01, 2023
|
it was amazing
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In 2018 Broken Places by Tracy Clark was published. It’s the first book in four books featuring PI Cassie Raines. The buzz about this new author and b
In 2018 Broken Places by Tracy Clark was published. It’s the first book in four books featuring PI Cassie Raines. The buzz about this new author and book was loud and widespread. Her next three books in this series continued to garner high praise and awards and nominations for awards. I knew I wanted to read her, but I was having trouble fitting in a new author, even though I love adding new authors to my reading. Finally, I have cleared my reading decks and read Ms. Clark’s first book in her new Detective Harriet Foster Thrillers, Hide. Yeah, I’ll be going back and reading her first four, too. Harriet Foster is a homicide detective in Chicago with almost 20 years� experience and a great skill set. She is just starting with a new team of detectives in a new precinct after an eight-week leave due to the suicide of her long-time detective partner, Detective Glynnis Thompson, who was also her best friend. Add to that the not-so-distant murder of Harriet’s son Regie and a divorce, and the job is all that Harriet has left. Harriet’s skills will be put to the test in her first case on the new team, a serial killer targeting red-headed women with blue eyes. First paired with Jim Lonergan, a detective who is lacking in social graces and who seems incompatible with a female partner, and a new murder case straightaway, Harriet has a thoroughly rough first day back. Trying to prevent Lonergan from railroading a young black teen found unconscious near the scene for the murder of Peggy Birch, Harriet must carefully use the rules of procedure to work in the young man’s favor. With her also being black, she knows that she has to leave color out of the matter to ensure her co-workers see her as impartial and not out to free someone because of race. It’s ironic that Harriet holds herself to being color blind, but her partner doesn’t seem to do that in the reverse. But, she doesn’t have to use that discrimination factor here; she uses the evidence and lack of it in the way it should be used, showing just what an excellent detective she is. It’s obvious from the start just how dedicated Harriet is to putting in the time past her regular hours to catch a killer, the real killer. The young woman who was murdered was found on Chicago’s Riverwalk and covered by leaves where there were no trees from which to gather them. An arm sticking out from the pile catches the attention of an early morning jogger which brings the police, including Lonergan and Harriet. It’s a brutal killing with the victim cut open in a style reminiscent of Jack the Ripper’s penchant for evisceration. When another woman with red hair and blue eyes is found murdered near the scene of the first murder, it becomes a case of a serial killer, and pressure to find the killer increases incrementally. The whole team is short on sleep and operating with frayed nerves. A psychiatrist shows up at the police station with a name of a recent patient who she thinks is a serious person of interest for the murders. This psychiatrist also seems to have her own agenda though, and while investigating the ex-patient, Harriet doesn’t take anybody else’s word for what evidence needs to prove. The young man, Bodie Morgan, is indeed an odd duck, who has a stalking record for red-headed women, and his twin sister Amelia is very protective of him. The pair has a dark family history they are desperately trying to keep secret. Bodie does get added to the persons of interest list, but that list starts to get rather complicated. Hide is an engrossing police procedural combined with psychological thriller, showing both the meticulous investigating of Harriet’s team and the machinations of a serial killer. From the initial examination of the murder scene to the autopsy to running down the clues and evidence to interrogation, this story should more than satisfy fans of police procedurals. Harriet herself is determined to follow the evidence and not feelings. The insight into the criminal mind, or criminally insane mind, sends chills not explanations. The story is told from multiple POVs, those of the detectives and suspects, so readers gain information from both sides. Of course, Harriet is the main character and gives readers the most direction. Nature vs. nurture, genetic coding vs. environment are issues the reader will be left to think about in this serial killer intrigue. Racism and sexism are also issues that arise. Harriet Foster is a character who has made her life and her world smaller on purpose. She really has pared her life down to just her job; she is no longer interested in more. She doesn’t give a lot up about herself in this first book of the series, but readers know there is much there waiting to come out. I am already impressed with Harriet as a detective, and I look forward to seeing if she allows anyone to get to know her beyond that. After all, characters evolving is what keeps a series strong. There are twists on all fronts in this investigation, and this story has a high-octane, surprise ending that finishes with a bang. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 23, 2023
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Jan 26, 2023
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Jan 23, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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| 0008556237
| 9780008556235
| B0B9SJQXW7
| 4.10
| 702
| unknown
| Jan 20, 2023
|
it was amazing
|
Annette Dashofy has been busy. She already has a highly popular series in the Zoe Chambers series, set in the author’s familiar Pennsylvania countrysi
Annette Dashofy has been busy. She already has a highly popular series in the Zoe Chambers series, set in the author’s familiar Pennsylvania countryside but in a fictitious place. Count me in the avid fans of Zoe Chambers. She has a stand-alone, Death by Equine, published in 2021, which was not only well received by readers but also won the Dr. Tony Ryan Award last fall. And now Annette Dashofy has created another series, the Detective Matthias Honeywell Mysteries, and Where the Guilty Hide is Book One. Readers, who are devoted to an author’s long-running series, are always a bit anxious about their beloved author starting a new one. Let me quell that anxiety. The elements that have made the Zoe Chambers series successful are alive and well in this new series.Ìý Erie, Pennsylvania has seen its second home invasion in less than a week. The second one occurs in a wealthy neighborhood in a house that has Lake Erie at its back end. Unfortunately, this time the homeowner gets loose from his ties, and follows the thievesâ€� van in his car. Detective Matthias Honeywell and his partner Cassie Malone arrive at the scene to find a distraught wife, Barbara, and two shaken-up teenagers. The homeowner doesn’t return home and is considered missing. His car is found empty in a lot, and while there are clues that Wesley Simmons was taken from his vehicle, there are no clues as to where he has been taken. Emma Anderson has come to Erie to hide and to find her drug-addicted younger sister. Emma is a freelance photographer and is temporarily living in a camper at the local campground. An assignment takes her to the beaches along Lake Erie to photograph kite fliers. The day she goes is too overcast for the kite fliers to be out, so she takes pictures of the storm waves and driftwood. One large pile of debris from the ocean catches her eye, so she photographs it, too. When she returns to her car and looks at the photos on her laptop, she is shocked to see a human arm sticking out of the large debris pile. Matthias and Cassie are called to the scene at the beach, as the body is a male who might be their missing homeowner. It is, and Wesley Simmons did not go easy into that dark night. The detectives now have a homicide to investigate, and readers will follow an engaging police procedural that shows the steps taken in the investigation and the adding up of evidence to reveal the guilty. It’s a laborious process that speaks to the character of Matthias Honeywell, as his relentlessness to uncover who is doing the home invasions and who committed murder shows a man dedicated to his job and community.Ìý As coincidence would have it, Emma’s neighbor Joe turns out to be Barbara’s father, and Wesley Simmonsâ€� father-in-law. The two men did not get along and Joe’s relationship with his daughter is fraught with turmoil, too. Emma seems to be caught in the middle of all that’s going on, being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Whether this is accidental or connects her to the criminal activity is what Matthias must determine. The home invasion death won’t be the last, and the time to solve the cases will become shorter and shorter. I’m so glad that Annette Dashofy has added to her already extraordinary body of work with this new series.ÌýThe cast of characters are relatable and full of interesting back story that readers will want to know even more about. The plot takes some unexpected turns that made me truly admire the author’s control of the story and its outcome. Dashofy knows where the story is going, enabling the reader to keep on track, too. The fast pacing keeps the suspense building and kept me turning the pages. And, the new setting of Erie, Pennsylvania on Lake Erie allows the author to stretch her well-honed talent of descriptive writing. She knows how to describe a place to make it a vivid image, but she also knows not to make description a superfluous barrage. It’s with great pleasure that I highly recommend the Detective Honeywell Mysteries series and its first book Where the Guilty Hide. The next book can’t come soon enough. Ìý I received an advanced copy of Where the Guilty Hide from NetGalley and HarperCollins. I’ve provided my honest review. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Jan 11, 2023
not set
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Jan 14, 2023
not set
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Jan 11, 2023
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| B0BF4NFJ9K
| 4.49
| 405
| unknown
| Sep 12, 2022
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it was amazing
|
“Vengeance was in his blood, along with wrath, and pride, and all those other very questionable medieval urges.� Acton and Doyle have taken a vacation “Vengeance was in his blood, along with wrath, and pride, and all those other very questionable medieval urges.� Acton and Doyle have taken a vacation, something unheard of for them, to the seaside to allow Kathleen some relaxation after the birth of their new son Tommy. It’s a good trip for first son Edward to burn off some of his energy, too, going to the sea and playing there. Of course, events happen to catch the attention of Lord Acton, such as a fire at the nearby marina and the death of a well-known actress there. Acton as Chief Inspector with the Met is asked to consult on the fire and death. Mary, Edward’s former nanny and a recent widow, comes to spend a few days with Kathleen toward the end of their stay. The housekeeper, Mrs. Macky, seems quite taken with Mary and her daughter Gemma, paying little attention to the lady of the house who employs her. Getting back to London is a relief for both Kathleen and Michael. The trial for the murderer of Mary’s husband, Nigel Howard, who was an MP, is soon to be underway, along with the other fentanyl murders. Although it is supposedly a cut and dried case, Kathleen is receiving ghostly visits from Mary’s husband saying otherwise. Someone is slipping the knot of justice in this killing, and Sir Howard wants his death avenged and Mary protected. And, Kathleen is puzzled at the ghost’s repeated comment that he is not sorry he’s dead. With Acton also believing someone has escaped due justice, he’s involved in obtaining vengeance for Mary’s husband behind the scenes, as Acton is wont to do. Of course, Acton is usually pulling strings and doing his secretive stuff, and Kathleen is trying to figure out Acton’s contrivances and keep up with them. It’s such a great part of this series, watching Acton’s and Doyle’s interactions and conversations as they work toward the same goal in their different ways. They are both seeking to ensure the responsible parties pay for the death of a good man. Kathleen is worried that this particular case is twisting Acton into way too many knots, and she, as Kathleen is wont to do, is determined to save him from himself. “But, you’re brimful of wrath, Michael, and it’s blindin� your judgment.� What finally is brought to light will end up surprising both Acton and Doyle. The characters of this series are some of my favorites in reading. Acton and Doyle are the perfect mismatched couple, complimenting one another with their differences in background and life views. Kathleen Doyle isn’t afraid to admit she needs a clearer understanding of some words and allusions, but she is brilliant at putting together the puzzle that is Acton. The love and warmth they bring to one another’s lives is life affirming in its depth. And, that both Acton and Doyle are on the police force gives them lots of common interests. The characters of Thomas Williams and his wife Izzy and Mary and her daughter Gemma enrich this story, as they do all stories in the series. The enigmatic Phillip Savoie looms large and baffling, and Mary is being watched over very thoroughly by Phillipe Savoie, who is meeting all her needs and then some. The always faithful, steady Reynolds expertly runs the household, but he defers to the Lady and Lord as any good English servant would. Anne Cleeland never disappoints in bringing to life these creations of hers. I so thoroughly enjoyed Murder in All Fury. It’s one of my favorite ones in the Doyle and Acton series. I enjoy all the books in this series, but this one really stands out for me. I think all the Doyle and Acton fans are going to be exceedingly pleased with Murder in All Fury. And, I do think that it could be read without reading the previous books because the plot is more linear than some in the series. Of course, anyone reading any book in this series out of order is going to want to read them all. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 17, 2022
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Jan 05, 2023
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Dec 17, 2022
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 0593156951
| 9780593156957
| 0593156951
| 3.95
| 5,806
| Sep 20, 2022
| Sep 20, 2022
|
it was amazing
|
Susan Elia MacNeal is one of my favorite authors, who often introduces me to pieces of history I should be familiar with but am not and history I migh
Susan Elia MacNeal is one of my favorite authors, who often introduces me to pieces of history I should be familiar with but am not and history I might be familiar with but not enough. These are not history lessons. They are better. They are stories evolving from the history that makes it personal and more meaningful. I’m a firm believer in historical fiction as one of the best ways to expand one’s knowledge of the events, both out front and behind the scenes, of how our world came to be what it is today. We all need to understand that. In MacNeal’s new stand-alone novel Mother Daughter Traitor Spy, she exposes the depth of the Nazi activity in America, especially in California, before our country entered WWII. I first became cognizant of how widespread and organized the Nazi problem was pre-WWII in this author’s previous book, Hollywood Spy, the book in the Maggie Hope series. Now in the stand-alone, I discover just what a deep-seated danger the American Nazis, fueled by the leaders of Germany Nazis, was. What makes this story and information so important is its relevance to the hate problems in our country today. Philosopher George Santayana’s famous quote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,� has been paraphrased over the years as, “Those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it.� Susan Elia MacNeal has done a deep dive into research to show readers just what devastation they could face by not remembering this particular part of history. A cautionary tale indeed. Veronica and Violet (Vi) Grace find themselves in an unplanned move across the country from Brooklyn to Los Angles, California. Veronica, a bright and rising journalism student had just graduated from college and was set to intern at Mademoiselle Magazine in NYC when her affair with a married journalist brought the wrath of his wife down on Veronica, causing the young journalist-to-be to lose her internship and leave the city. Within days of settling into Veronica’s uncle’s empty bungalow in California, Veronica finds a typing job for Educational Service Bureau in Los Angles. Vi’s pension from being a Navy widow only goes so far, and Veronica will have to put her journalism dreams on hold for a practical job. The man who has hired Veronica works out of his home, with his wife, who is also seemingly involved in the work. Veronica finds out the first day that the “work� is spreading Nazi propaganda and building up the numbers in the American Nazi cells. She is appalled and has no plans to return to this job, where talk of overthrowing the United States government and installing a Hitler-based system is a real objective. Veronica and Vi try to report these subversive activities to the police and the F.B.I., but these institutions are more interested in catching communists than Nazis. After their warnings fall on deaf ears with law enforcement, Vi calls a friend of her husband’s in the Navy, and this high-ranking officer doesn’t dismiss their concerns. He puts them in touch with Ari Lewis, head of a spy ring uncovering and monitoring Nazi activity in California. Lewis, a Jew, knows just how dangerous the Nazis in America are and that they are targeting major installations of different cities� infrastructures and infiltrating the armed forces. With Veronica and Vi being of German heritage and having the blond hair/blue eyes, they are the perfect infiltrators into the world of Nazi followers who call themselves the American Bund and who are getting their orders from Germany. It’s an undertaking fraught with peril, but Veronica and Vi agree to play the parts of Nazi sympathizers. Veronica returns to work for the Nazi propaganda people, and Vi makes headway into a organization of women who are pro-Nazism, the America First Committee. The mother and daughter spy team don’t shy away from getting as close as they can to the action and the people who are propagating the Nazi way of life. Veronica starts dating one of the movers and shakers of the California Nazi organizers, and Vi becomes best friends with one the movements most powerful women. The viciousness of these Nazis is part of their modus operandi, and these women face certain death if their duplicity is discovered. With it being 1940 and 1941, readers will see the extents to which the American Nazis are prepared to go to prevent President Roosevelt being elected to a third term and to deter our country from entering WWII. The American Nazis� vision is for a white supremacist “Christian� government based on Hitler’s in Germany. Suspense is thick and constant in Mother Daughter Traitor Spy. It is a suspense born from the true life stories of Sylvia Comfort and her mother Grace Comfort, who were actual spies for Leon L. Lewis, the real spymaster represented by Ari Lewis in the book. The authenticity continues with other characters who are based on the real-life people, both heroes and villains of the Nazi story of 1930s and 40s in California. Susan Elia MacNeal includes outstanding notes at the end of the book explaining who is who and provides an extensive bibliography for her research. This is the best of historical fiction, well-researched and the history woven into a fascinating fact-based story. The plausibility of the characters� actions is never in question with MacNeal’s carefully plotted sequence of events. Some books transcend a reading recommendation made for a great story or captivating characters or gripping suspense, which, of course, are all found in Mother Daughter Traitor Spy. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, I’m a fan of historical fiction bringing important events and people to our attention. The precarious state of our world and more specifically our country, where hate crimes have risen dramatically over the last five or six years, demands that we pay attention to the mistakes and dangers of the past in order not to repeat them. As a former teacher, I realize the importance of teaching students with interesting materials. I have a list of historical fiction books I would like to see schools use in broadening students� awareness of this country’s history and bringing it alive as to how it applies to today. Of course, I don’t want my enthusiasm for education to overshadow my recommendation that this book is at its core an amazing read. It’s a thrilling story of two brave women in an extraordinary set of circumstances they could never have imagined. A riveting tale of heroism. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 12, 2022
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Dec 17, 2022
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Dec 12, 2022
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1448307848
| 9781448307845
| B0B4P4RTM9
| 3.54
| 125
| Dec 06, 2022
| Dec 06, 2022
|
it was amazing
|
Just in time for Christmas giving, to yourself and others, is the publication of the fifth book in Catriona McPherson’s The Last Ditch Motel series, S
Just in time for Christmas giving, to yourself and others, is the publication of the fifth book in Catriona McPherson’s The Last Ditch Motel series, Scot in a Trap. Inserting humor into a murder mystery successfully takes some skill, and this author lets the main character, Lexie Campbell, just be herself to achieve this. You might say it’s an organic sort of humor, one shared by both the character and the author of being Scottish and living in the United States. Lexie is still learning the difference between how things work in America as opposed to Scotland. For example, you don’t call a newborn baby ugly in America, whereas in Scotland, it’s perfectly acceptable to note that there are flaws in the wee one. Scot in a Trap is set in 2021, when the country is still suffering from the effects of Covid, but many of the restrictions have been lifted. The continuing presence of Covid has its effect on some of the actions the characters take, but the pandemic is not a focus. Thanksgiving Day is, of course, that uniquely United States holiday where the food is all too often embarrassingly abundant, and families gather, whether they should or not. Therapist Lexie Campbell has adopted the quirky characters who live full-time at the Last Ditch Motel in Cuento, California as her family, and so it is this community of unlikely friends who gather for the big Thanksgiving dinner. Lexie is still acclimating herself to her American surroundings, and she is stunned that the communal dinner for the residents has at least seven pies on offer and not one of them with meat and gravy in it. Her suggestion to cut up some pears to include a lighter choice is not met favorably by Noleen, the owner and operator of Last Ditch Motel. This Thanksgiving is a day of waiting, too. Della, another full-time resident, is past her due date to have the baby that she and Dylan are expecting. The couple are staying on Lexie’s houseboat because they want a home birth, not wanting to go to the hospital where Covid is still monopolizing the health care system. But, Thanksgiving dinner and its many pies, so many pies, is uninterrupted by a birth, sending the Last Ditch community off to bed with full stomachs and continued anticipation. Lexie is awoken in the middle of the night by a strange sound, and her fiancé Taylor isn’t any help with recognizing it either. The mystery sound is followed by the unmistakable sound of a baby crying. Della has had her baby and there’s a mad dash for Lexie’s houseboat. Diego, Maria’s son, names the new baby girl Chihiro, and everyone gushes over her. Well, everyone gushes except Lexie, who manages to stick her foot in her mouth by mentioning the baby’s birthmark on her forehead. On the way back to their rooms, Lexie admits to the others that she wasn’t impressed with the baby’s appearance, which ends up earning her the disdain of the group and early morning breakfast service to the only guest they have at the moment. Lexie takes her punishment well. How hard could scrambled eggs and toast be? Well, the fixing of the breakfast that Lexie has to deliver to the motel’s only overnight guest is the easy part. The discovery that the man who ordered the breakfast is lying in his bed with a bullet hole in his forehead is a little more complicated. The fact that the dead man is Lexie’s first true love from Scotland, the true love that dumped her years ago, is a lot more complicated. Lexie hasn’t set eyes on Menzies Lassiter for close to twenty years before finding him resting in permanent peace at the Last Ditch. While Lexie and her friends wonder if it could be suicide by a man who was riddled by guilt about his previous actions toward Lexie and other women, Sgt. Molly Rankinson doubts a bullet in the middle of the victim’s forehead means anything other than murder. But, what connection does he have to the United States other than Lexie. Yep, Lexie, who has opportunity and possible motive. And means? Well, that shows up later. Our Lexie is not one to sit around fretting and waiting for the handcuffs to be clicked on. She will go all out to prove her innocence, even dumpster diving. She is the only one who has all the pieces to put together for a resolution. However, proving her innocence will mean acknowledging some truths that Lexie has avoided for many years.Ìý The Last Ditch Mysteries are a brilliant work of hilarity and substance. What drew me to this series was the guffaw factor, a chance to read the hilarious adventures, or misadventures, of a delightful Scottish character who comes to America after a whirlwind romance with a dentist from California and finds herself divorced and with no home. The authenticity of this scenario is guaranteed, as the author herself found her way from Scotland to California to live, and who is one of the funniest people I know (but not divorced and has a home). But, as I’ve noted in reviews of earlier Last Ditch books, Catriona McPherson shows readers what is important in living their best lives with her stories in this microcosm of the world called Last Ditch Motel. She infuses humor into a message of acceptance and compatibility between people of vast differences. However, McPherson isn’t through yet. She also manages to present a murder to be solved that is entwined with an important issue, such as misogyny or sexual abuse. So, you read these books laughing (or guffawing as I just pointed out) at the witty dialogue and Lexie’s unique observations and the offbeat characters, but you gain insight you weren’t expecting, too. Catriona McPherson is one clever author, and Scot in a Trap is one must-read book.Ìý I received a book from the author and Severn House, and my review is an honest and unbiased one ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 2022
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Dec 03, 2022
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Dec 06, 2022
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 0593437853
| 9780593437858
| 0593437853
| 4.11
| 7,658
| Nov 08, 2022
| Nov 08, 2022
|
it was amazing
|
Oh, to be in Paris now that spring is here. Well, the spring of 1936 might not be the best spring to visit, although things were, relatively speaking,
Oh, to be in Paris now that spring is here. Well, the spring of 1936 might not be the best spring to visit, although things were, relatively speaking, normal as to what they would be when the Nazis seized control in a few years. Peril in Paris takes place when the dangers of what is to come is trying to be averted by those who work undercover, behind the scenes of the beauty and thrill of a Paris spring. Peril in Paris is a title that covers so much in the story. While the Royal Spyness (Lady Georgie) mysteries have a pleasant and often humorous leaning, there is always something going on underneath that delight that involves murder and mayhem. Paris and this story could be interchangeable metaphors for one another. It’s rather like taking the good with the bad, but under Rhys Bowen’s deft hand, it’s always spellbinding. Lady Georgie finds herself in Paris in March 1936. Three months pregnant, her morning sickness has finally subsided, and her dashing husband Darcy has asked her to accompany him to Paris. For Darcy it will be work, and certain to be spy work, but for Georgie, she will visit with her best friend Belinda. Belinda is working as an intern under Coco Chanel, furthering her designing skills and enjoying life in Paris. Since Darcy will be working, Georgie is staying with Belinda so they can better catch up with one another. However, Belinda is swamped with work for Coco’s new fall collection preview taking place in a few days. Georgie, who already knows Coco, becomes involved in the show, too, as Coco designs an elegant maternity dress for Georgie and insists Georgie model it in the show. Georgie is worried about the modeling part because she can barely walk in the tight-legged skirt, and the memories of falling on the runway in a previous modeling stint she did for Coco still haunt the expectant mother. As it turns out, modeling the maternity dress isn't the only thing Georgie has to worry about at Coco Chanel’s show. Darcy needs her help. There is a German delegation, known Nazis and their wives, in Paris for a few days, and that delegation includes Hermann Goring’s wife and her friend, Greta Goldberg, who has a Jewish husband. That woman is trying hard not to be noticed, but she and her husband are secretly part of the effort to undermine Nazi Germany. Frau Goldberg has some documents and microfilm to pass to Darcy, but she is being constantly watched, which makes it hard for Darcy to obtain the documents. The German women are going to attend the fashion show, and Darcy must ask Georgie to take the hand-off of materials in a plan he devises. The dress and the hand-off are causing this newly pregnant Georgie quite a lot of stress, and there’s an unexpected presence that makes it all just a little harder. Georgie’s narcissistic mother, Claire, is with the German women and eager to buy some Chanel garments to take back to Germany where she is now living with her rich industrialist German fiancé. As if that weren’t enough, Wallace Simpson shows up. With Georgie’s cousin David now King, Wallace is flouting her new status as the woman who will become Queen. Of course, she won’t, and nobody realizes that more than Georgie’s mother, who has never missed a chance to put Wallace in her place. When the murder of an American woman occurs at Coco’s show, Georgie quickly realizes that the German woman she was to receive the documents from was the actual target. Georgie is in a bad position of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the French detective is looking very closely at her as a suspect. There’s so much at stake now-Darcy’s opportunity to gain information that could be used against the Nazis, the German woman having a target on her back, and Georgie needing to prove she was not involved in the American woman’s death. The resolution to the murder is not an obvious one, and the hate behind it is steeped in a twisted deception. I’m pleased with the way Rhys Bowen has brought the Lady Georgie series to the current events involving France and Germany and the UK, the years leading up to WWII. It had to be addressed because of the time frame, and this story was a perfect fit, as Georgie already had a connection to Coco Chanel, and Coco Chanel was accommodating to the German clientele who were Nazis. It was an excellent place to show the beginnings of German encroachment into French life. I’m not a fan of Coco Chanel. I think she was strictly an opportunist who cared only about herself and her business surviving, and her fraternization with the Nazis was deplorable. But again, to introduce the stirrings of a world that was rapidly moving towards war needs a stage that touches upon the disbelief that an iconic city like Paris will change. Chanel’s showing of her fall line in spring represents the expectation that life will continue as usual, with the Nazis mostly an annoyance. The challenge the author faced of keeping the charm of this series alive while an unprecedented dark cloud hovered was a hard one, but Rhys Bowen was able to do just that. Lady Georgie is Lady Georgie, and her personality and less serious problems are going to be there, even amidst the world changing. I was still able to enjoy the essence of Georgie and Darcy, their relationship and their smaller world. Daily life does go on in a vacuum of sorts, but, of course, at this time in history, all the characters� lives are facing major shifts when daily life shares in common all too many hardships. I heartily applaud Rhys Bowen for the transitions she has successfully started for the coming war. Peril in Paris is a book that is going to appeal to a wide range of readers, and although there are some nuances between characters that might be missed, I think this book can be read as a fascinating stand-alone. Well done, Rhys Bowen. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 19, 2022
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Nov 21, 2022
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Nov 19, 2022
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1496735064
| 9781496735065
| 1496735064
| 4.45
| 2,285
| Nov 29, 2022
| Nov 29, 2022
|
it was amazing
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Every time I read a book in Sara Driscoll’s F.B.I. K-9 series I fall completely into the world of its story. I am all in, trying to keep pace in a hig
Every time I read a book in Sara Driscoll’s F.B.I. K-9 series I fall completely into the world of its story. I am all in, trying to keep pace in a high action story where danger is never far away. The combination of human handlers and their canine partners is thrilling to see, or read about, in how it works. The trust between them is essential, and it pays off in saving lives. Meg Jennings and her Labrador, Hawk, are part of the FBI’s Human Scent and Evidence Team out of Washington, D.C. Meg and Hawk partner up with Brian Foster and his canine, Lacey, in search and rescue efforts. They are called in to find survivors in large- and small-scale cases. Hawk and Lacey are not cadaver dogs, those that search for the dead, but it can turn out that a search and rescue ends up in a body recovery status. Time is always a crucial element in the team’s work, and in reading this series, you feel the urgency of the searches. Still Waters takes Meg and Hawk and Brian and Lacey to the wild terrain of the Boundary Waters National Forest in Minnesota, more specifically to the waters of Lake Superior which are part of the area. Always wanting their dogs to be at the top of their game, Meg and Brian have signed up for a water skills training competition. While Hawk and Lacy are both unbeatable in their land skills, the water training is new, as is the searching for something dead. The training is the most important aspect of the weekend, but the two handlers also would love for their K-9 partners to excel in the competition part.Ìý Along for the trip is Todd Webb, Meg’s paramedic/firefighter boyfriend, and his two firefighter brothers. Also accompanying the group for their big camp-out is Ryan, Brian’s husband. Todd has assured Meg that she will love the camping experience, with meals prepared by him and his brothers and an air mattress that she can get a great night’s rest on. It seems like the setup for a perfect weekend of spending time with her amazing K-9 partner and a group of great friends. Well, maybe not so perfect. Both Meg, with Hawk, and Brian, with Lacey, have top results in the first day’s training, with the dogs being able to locate cadaver tissue in tubes down in the water while in a boat. However, when it comes time for the land to water trials, the competition part, Hawk seems to get confused at one point on the trail, which is completely unlike him. Lacey leads Brian to what he thinks is the top time, but when times are announced, another handler is named in first place. Brian is sure he timed himself correctly, but the judge of the competition rules against him. Something seems off in this competition right awy. The winner of the first day’s trail is Rita Pratt from the Laramie Sheriff’s Department in Wyoming. She is an arrogant, hostile person, unlike other handlers Meg has met. Meg has to step in when Pratt is berating another handler to keep the dogs from becoming agitated. Meg’s interference is not appreciated. Meg has another encounter with Pratt that evening, which will have serious consequences for Meg, maybe even causing Hawk to be taken away from her.ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Pratt is discovered dead the next day when during the training session, Hawk sniffs out human remains in the water, after already finding the cadaver tissue hidden by the training crew. The F.B.I. agent who arrives to investigate the suspicious death focuses on Meg as the lead suspect, after hearing about her dust-ups with Pratt and that Meg’s dog found the body in a complex search area. It becomes apparent that Meg is going to need help beyond her supporters already there. A call to Clay McCord, her sister Cara’s boyfriend, who is an investigative reporter for the Washington Post and a call to her supervisor, Craig Beaumont assures that she will have the best people working on proving her innocence, as both men head to Meg's training location. There have been strange reactions from people concerning Pratt all weekend, but, unfortunately, Meg’s interactions are the ones most visible. The time is short and the facts are slippery in trying to ensure Meg doesn’t lose her freedom and her dog. And, Pratt’s death won’t be the only murder that weekend. Still Waters incorporates all the successful elements of the past six books in this FBI K-9 series. The high energy of the humans and dogs working together in a clock-driven suspense plot. The bonds between humans and dogs and between humans and humans that mean the difference between life and death. The sense of community in the world of Meg Jennings, including her co-workers, her boyfriend, her family, and her friends. The settings which are different in each story, and in this story are a fascinating character on their own. The information woven throughout the story about how search-and-rescue dogs and their owners work. The story that always deals with something new, something you probably haven’t read about before. Writing that flows smoothly and puts the reader in the setting, in the situation, and in the lives of the characters. All these elements combine for a story not to be missed. Still Waters is one of my favorite reads this year in one of my favorite series every year. Ìý Full Disclosure. I received an advanced copy of Still Waters from the author for review. I enjoyed it so much, I plan on buying a hard copy, too. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 09, 2022
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Nov 15, 2022
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Nov 09, 2022
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1250145295
| 9781250145291
| 1250145295
| 4.45
| 74,314
| Nov 29, 2022
| Nov 29, 2022
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it was amazing
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“He held the younger man’s eyes, inviting him to set aside for a moment the great brutality that existed and to remember the acts of greater courage.
“He held the younger man’s eyes, inviting him to set aside for a moment the great brutality that existed and to remember the acts of greater courage. Of integrity and decency. Of self-control. Of forgiveness.� I have to confess that the beginning of A World of Curiosities was a hard read for me. The subject matter of the child abuse, sexual abuse, distresses me. I was tempted to quit reading, but it came down to a matter of faith in Louise Penny’s stories, in her ability to tell the horror of something with hope, of making the look at evil have meaning. I knew she had something important to tell me, and it’s the repercussions of the abuse that figure into the story. It’s not a book focusing on the abuse or even describing the abuse. Only the evidence that something had occurred is there, not the occurrence. So, I continued to read, and it won’t surprise anyone who has read this book or read any of Louise’s books that I made the right decision. Louise Penny digs deep into the darkness to shine a light on it, exposing it and knowing it can’t be ignored. What so many Chief Inspector Gamache fans will be very happy with is that we finally get a front row seat to Armand Gamache finding Jean Guy Beauvoir in the basement of a Surrette detachment station and bringing him into the light of day and the heart of an investigation. (Nobody uses dark and light better than Louise Penny.) Their first meeting could have easily been the last, but Gamache sees past Beauvoir’s surly behavior, at his observational skills and passion to get things right. Inspector Gamache has been called from Montreal to a desolate place where Lac Plongeon sits, hours northeast of Montreal. A dead woman has been discovered in a shallow part of the lake, who carries pictures of herself and her two children in her wallet. The identification is easy due to a driver’s license and her reputation around the small town as a prostitute. Delivering the news of her death to Clotilde Arsenault ‘s children, Fiona, 13, and Sam, 9, Gamache discovers that the children have been left alone for the few days after their mother was reported missing, and he is outraged by this oversight of the surette officer in charge at the detachment station. This oversight is only the first and least of the outrages Gamache and his team will uncover in this case and at the detachment. By the end of this visit to the past, Jean Guy Beauvoir has become a member of the homicide team out of Montreal. “It seemed like a coincidence, but in Gamache’s experience, almost everything that happened was the end result of a series of apparently unconnected events. Often set in motion years earlier. Remove one, and the thing did not happen.� Repercussions and reverberations. Interspersed into the narrative about Gamache’s and Beauvoir’s first case together is the current timeline. We join Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache as they prepare to attend a graduation ceremony of some personal significance in Montreal at the École Polytechnique, an engineering school. Fiona Arsenault, the girl who was one of the two abused children in the pivotal case for Gamache and Beauvoir, has earned her engineering degree. It is due to Armand Gamache’s intervention that Fiona Arsenault has been able to attend the classes and obtain her degree. Armand and Reine-Marie have served as sponsors for her and are happy to see this day arrive. Harriet Landry, the niece of Three Pines� bookstore owner and former psychologist, Myrna Landry, is also graduating this day. Another person being honored this graduation is a special friend of Armand’s, Nathalie Provost, who, thanks to Armand, survived the Montreal Massacre, where fourteen women were killed and thirteen women were injured at this school, a tragedy born from the malevolence of misogyny. It was the day that Armand Gamache decided to make homicide his path of service in the Sûreté du Québec. It’s an emotional day, but a day to celebrate, and Three Pines is doing so with a community-wide party. Unfortunately, Sam Arsenault, Fiona’s younger brother shows up for the graduation and for a stay-over in Three Pines, which concerns Gamache. Gamache has seen the evil emanating from Sam Arsenault as a child, and as a young man, he hasn’t changed. Sam appears charming to others, but Gamache had him pegged when encountering Sam that first time. Sam knows this and hates Gamache for it. Seeing Sam again after all the years since his mother’s murder, brings sharply into focus how that level of malevolence works its way past Gamache’s barriers in his mind and preys upon him. Only Sam and the serial killer John Fleming have been able to get inside Gamache’s head. Things are about to get twisted in Three Pines. Myrna and her significant other Billy would like to move in together, so they are looking to either move from her bookstore or miraculously make more space there. A letter from Billy’s stonemason ancestor that comes into Billy’s possession reveals another room in Myrna’s house/bookstore, a room that has been bricked up since 1862. Upon opening this space, a huge painting greets those present, a copy of the famous Paston Treasure, also known as A World of Curiosities, with its many depictions of objects found in the time of the 1800s when it was painted. However, this modern copy of the painting includes items found in current times. As murder and other unsavory events start to occur, the painting is studied by Gamache and his team, as connections between objects in the painting and events emerge. A deadly game is underway, and no one has more to lose than Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. No review would be complete without comments about the characters whom we readers of this series have come to love over 18 books. Fans of this series know that the characters are second to none in their development and reader investment. They have become friends, those friends whom we don’t see every day, but when we see them again, we pick up right where we left off. Armand, Jean Guy, Reine-Marie, Annie, Ruth, Clara, Myrna, Gabri, Olivier, Isabelle, and Billy, share their thoughts and emotions with us, and we are buoyed by the community attachments they’ve all formed. Even crotchety old Ruth with her cursing duck inspires us. Of course, Ruth’s poetry quoted throughout the book and often by Gamache is moving and memorable. Technically, Jean Guy and Annie and their children and Isabelle don’t live in Three Pines, but the people who do live there readily adopt them as their own. The magic of Three Pines is the characters who “All having discovered a village only ever found by people lost� gain strength from each other and discover the best of themselves. And, as we read the heart-warming scenes of the meals they share at one another’s homes in Three Pines, we gain strength from such, too. The newest character to Gamache’s homicide team is Amelia Choquet, who readers first encountered in A Great Reckoning (#12) where she was an unlikely cadet in the Sûreté Academy. Amelia is still tattooed and unconventional, but she has shed the anger which consumed her then and become a trusted member of the team. Armand Gamache is a great giver of second chances, and he has once again struck it rich with Amelia Choquet. Louise Penny is purposeful in showing the value of people who might otherwise be discarded by society. Hopefully, readers carry that message into life with them. A World of Curiosities is a story of increasing danger to Gamache and his family, both those related and others in his circle of care. It is a journey of frayed nerves and horror-filled expectations. A World of Curiosities is by far the most suspenseful book I’ve read this year, and it goes to top of my list now when recommending suspense reading. Edge of the seat sounds so trite, but that phrase seems to have been made for this book. The nefarious, twisted forces trying to destroy Gamache have no boundaries of evil, and the worst seems inevitable. Tears will likely be waiting to spring. This may be Louise Penny’s best book yet, and with seventeen previous solid-gold hits, that’s saying something. Thanks to Minotaur Books for an advanced copy of A World of Curiosities. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 27, 2022
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Oct 30, 2022
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Oct 27, 2022
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Hardcover
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| 0316703540
| 9780316703543
| 0316703540
| 4.25
| 5,626
| Sep 20, 2022
| Sep 20, 2022
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it was amazing
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Before I can start the review on Forsaken Country by Allen Eskens, I have to reiterate some givens about this author’s writing and his books. I am abs
Before I can start the review on Forsaken Country by Allen Eskens, I have to reiterate some givens about this author’s writing and his books. I am absolutely in a state of thrall when I read a book from Eskens. His writing is a seamless flow of brilliant characters, engaging setting, purposeful dialogue, and distinctive voice blending together to form stories I can’t forget, nor do I want to forget. The difficulty in reviewing a book by Allen Eskens is I immediately want to talk about all the books by him that I’ve read. There’s a reason his other books come rushing back at me when talking about his latest. This exceptional author has cleverly connected his books through a myriad of fascinating characters who might appear as a main character in one book, or that character may only be referenced in passing in another book. Eskens states that “My books are not a series, but rather character arcs that revolve around a small community.� It is the history of connection that persists, as the different characters take center stage in different stories, that makes his books so uniquely extraordinary. So it is with Forsaken Country, featuring Max Rupert, who is making his fourth appearance as lead character. Max Rupert is a man on a mission, a mission to maintain a life devoid of pleasure or happiness, as he seeks repentance. He is in his third year of self-imposed exile after an event in which he believes he forfeited his soul and damned himself. He lives somewhat as a hermit in a cabin in the woods outside of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, his hair grown out and a beard down to his chest. He ended his career as a highly respected homicide detective with the Minneapolis police, retiring from it and the world. Well, Max might be finished with the world, but the world isn’t finished with Max. Max hasn’t given up all contact with civilization to live in the woods. He still shops for groceries in town, and it’s on a trip for groceries he runs into the former sheriff of Grand Rapids, Lyle Voight. Voight is there with his daughter Sandy and grandson Pip, and Max’s interaction with Pip brings up memories of the child Max lost when his wife died. Shortly after this meeting, Lyle shows up at Max’s cabin asking for help in finding Sandy and Pip, who have disappeared. Max is reluctant to get involved, feeling he can’t allow himself to be a part of things anymore. But, Lyle’s parting words of “he’s just a little boy,� linger hard in Max’s mind and heart, so he joins Lyle in a search driven by desperation to find daughter and grandson before all traces are lost. Current Sheriff Bolger is convinced that Sandy has just taken Pip and run away, but Sheriff Bolger is also friends with Sandy’s ex-husband Reed Harris, the person Lyle thinks is behind the disappearance. Max soon discovers how hard an investigation is without access to certain police tools, such as pinging a cell phone, things he once had at his fingertips. He is hesitant to reach out to his former partner Niki Vang, especially after the way he left her and the department, but when he can’t go forward without the resources to which she has access, he pushes down his shame to contact her. Niki, who is rightly furious at Max for multiple reasons, surprises him and is willing to help. It’s not the last time he will need her help in this search. And, Niki, a character whom Eskens has given a pragmatic personality, with a great depth of empathetic understanding, will help Max face his demons and feelings, along with aiding, on the sidelines, his pursuit of a madman. It becomes apparent that Lyle’s instincts are right concerning Reed, the ex-husband. Readers learn early on what a monster Reed Harris is, which increases the suspense level exponentially due to a constant threat of his volatile temperament causing things to go sideways. The hunt finally takes Max and Lyle to the Boundary Waters wilderness, where Minnesota runs into Canada. Reed has fled there to cross illegally into Canada with his kidnapped cargo. Here is where the setting becomes its own character, albeit a cold-hearted one in the depths of November. Allen Eskens shows an unerring brilliance at pulling the reader into this outdoor, wilderness setting. His words make you feel the chill, the isolation, the danger. Death is just one wrong step away, especially in the cold. To battle evil in this setting is to do double battle against man and nature. Forbidden Country picks up three years after Long Dark Descending, the book featuring Max and his deed that sends him into isolation. In this fourth Max Rupert book, there are some answers and resolutions, but Eskens still leaves Max and readers struggling with the moral dilemma of justice, what it is, who has the right to decide, how it is best served, and when does justice become revenge. All of Allen Eskens� books cause the reader to ponder human behavior, the good and bad of it, and the inbetween. In looking at the characters� behaviors, the reader experiences self-reflection, too. Can taking a life ever be justified? This is Allen Eskens. This is crime writing at its best. Forsaken Country is a magnificent adventure thriller, a crime novel that celebrates attention to detail. The question of reading Eskens� books with these recurring characters in publication order is tricky, as sometimes a later book is telling an earlier story. You might want to read the four books featuring Max Rupert together, or the four with Lila Nash together. There are eight books so far that orbit around the Joe Talbert, Boady Sanden, Lila Nash, and Max Rupert universe. With Allen Eskens� books, I think you can appreciate them in any order, but I guarantee if you read one, you’ll want to read them all. Thoughts are beginning to turn towards Christmas gifts this time of year, and I can’t think of a better gift than giving a mystery/crime reading friend a set of all eight of these books and letting them decide the order in which to read them. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 22, 2022
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Oct 25, 2022
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Oct 25, 2022
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0593496566
| 9780593496565
| 0593496566
| 3.91
| 5,023
| Sep 06, 2022
| Sep 06, 2022
|
it was amazing
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“And all the while, Michael Johnston lay in his hospital bed, gloating and festering his way toward the darkness, carrying with him all those unshed s
“And all the while, Michael Johnston lay in his hospital bed, gloating and festering his way toward the darkness, carrying with him all those unshed secrets. Somehow, he had turned their investigation into a game, a twisted monster’s final amusement.� Laurie R. King has given us such thrilling stories in her Russell and Holmes series, her Kate Martinelli series, her Stuyvesant & Grey books, and her stand-alones. Now she has a new series starting that features a new lead character, Raquel Laing, and she looks to be another whom readers will want to follow. Back to the Garden is a book that deals with two timelines fifty years apart, going back to the 1970s in California where free lovers and free spirits also became targets for serial killers. Raquel Laing is an Inspector for the San Franciso Police, currently working in the Cold Cases Unit. She had only been a patrol police-person for six years when she landed a desk in homicide, which many of her co-workers resented. They refer to her a Sherlock, which Raquel hates. But there’s no denying how good she is at her job, and her mentor, Al Hawkin (of Kate Martinelli series fame), has brought her onto his Cold Cases team. She has great intuitive skills; she can read people and tell if they’re truthful or not. It’s not magic, just good detecting. Although her social skills are lacking, sometimes sidestepping the leading up to and finishing touches of a conversation, Raquel can cut through the deception of a suspect or criminal and get results. And, it’s Raquel’s detecting skills that her boss Al Hawkin is sorely in need of in finding a serial killer. When the killer is revealed through Raquel’s acute observational skills (a fascinating observation), a new urgency arises. The Highwayman, the name given to this particular serial killer, is currently in a hospital bed near death, and Al’s cold case department is working hard to get locations and names of at least nineteen victims. Despite her lack of social graces, or maybe because of it, Raquel is the only one who can communicate with him effectively at all. The killer thrills at remembering how he snuffed out the life of the young women and shows no remorse even as he’s dying. The Gardener Estate and its mansion has long been a source of curiosity for people. Its history includes a struggle between the older generation and the younger of what its legacy should be. The Gardener brothers Rob and Fort were raised by their grandfather and their great-grandmother on the estate to be the suitable heirs. The problem was that neither brother wanted to carry on a legacy or be like their grandfather in any way. So, Rob went off to fight in Viet Nam in the early 1970s and Fort went to India to learn a new way of life. Back from Vietnam, Rob was at a commune in Oregon when he heard his grandfather had died and left him the estate. So, in what must have had his grandfather spinning in his grave, Rob takes the commune he’s in from Oregon to California to make the Gardener mansion their new home. Fort even joins him after a bit, as it is part of Fort’s spiritual journey. The commune called The Commons is successful for four years, and artists, such as famous singers and sculptors visit at times. One sculptor who was particularly interested in putting her mark on the estate was Gaddo, famous enough to just have one name. Returning to present day, the Gardener Estate is open to the public, with an estate manager and archivist, and people take tours to see both the glamorous parts of its beginnings and the transformational parts of the commune years. One point of pride for the manager of the estate, Jen Bachus, is the restoration of the gardens. It’s in the upkeep of the gardens where a problem appears in a Gaddo statue. It’s in danger of toppling over, so it will have to be removed, concrete base and all, to have work done. Its removal reveals a secret from 50 years ago, when the statue of three Eves was erected on that spot. Under the concrete is a skull with blonde hair attached. The skeleton under concrete fits the pattern of the Highwayman serial killer, so Raquel is sent to investigate. The story is divided into “Then� and “Now� chapters, and both timelines are engaging. As the 70s saw me graduate from high school, graduate from college, and get married. I relished the visit to my younger days, connecting to the many references and allusions of the “then� chapters. Early seventies, it was still a time of hippies and communes and free love. By the end of the seventies those were fading out some. But, the Gardener Estate saw four years of this testing of a different way of life, and readers of this book will get a taste of it, learning that even in a free spirit type of existence there were leaders, certain people/characters who kept things running. In getting to know the characters who, along with Rob and his partner Meadow, kept the commune going, readers will start to dread who of them, if any, might be the skeleton found. The “Now� timeline is a more tense one, as time itself is running out for the victims and their families to find closure from the tragic deaths of the young women. Raquel Laing is indefatigable in her pursuit for justice, and her scenes with the serial killer, Michael Johnston, haunt her, as well as the reader. While she’s trying to get locations and names from the monster who controls the information, she is majorly involved in trying to determine if the Gardener Estate skeleton is one of the Highwayman’s and who it is. There is a large cast of characters in this story, from both the “then� and the “now�. The reader is privy to multiple points of view and as Detective Laing is gathering information in her interviews with different people, the reader will be gathering clues and revelations for an explanation and resolution of events, too. One of the characters who gives a birds-eye view of the commune days is the estate lawyer, Jerry Rathford. Through the early days of him delivering the news to Rob of his grandfather’s death and Rob’s inheritance, Jerry is a reliable part of the timeline from the transformation of the Gardener Estate from palatial mansion to commune to a landmark historical spot. Jerry’s recollections of his visits to the commune introduces readers to many of the commune members. The character of Raquel Laing remains a rather enigmatic one throughout the book, and in a recent discussion of the book by the author, she said that’s how she intended it. It’s interesting to hear authors talk about their characters, as so many authors say they listen to their characters, waiting for them to reveal their personality and thoughts. According to Laurie King, Raquel played things very close to the vest, not even revealing how her leg got injured, which has caused her to use a cane. And yet, readers will be able to ascertain much about Raquel by her actions. We know for certain that she cares deeply about obtaining justice for the victims and closure for families. She even shows some personal information in connection with her slow-burning attraction to someone in the story. But, she is a deliberate, thinking person who is not prone to impulsive behavior. Her physical appearance suggests a no-nonsense, no-frills person�"Small, tough looking, but with the most extraordinary eyes, a sort of translucent amber color� the rest of her was the very opposite of showy: cropped hair, no makeup, “a teal shirt with rolled-up sleeves, khaki pants, sturdy walking shoes, and a cane.� Back to the Garden is a chilling tale, a time of change in what had always been and the aftermath of how it wasn’t all flowers in your hair love. It’s a police procedural that takes some turns away from what’s legal, but the process is fascinating. Laurie King has taken me on so many amazing adventures and down so many dark roads of twisted suspense, and this book can take its place proudly in her repertoire. I’m delighted with the new character of Raquel Laing, and I am looking forward to learning more about her. King has stated that she hopes to keep the “then� and “now� format to this series, and that suits me fine. There are lots of interesting threads to the world of Raquel, and there’s no one better to explore those than Laurie King. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Oct 14, 2022
not set
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Oct 19, 2022
not set
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Oct 13, 2022
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0385544820
| 9780385544825
| 0385544820
| 3.72
| 24,354
| May 10, 2022
| May 10, 2022
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it was amazing
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“Oh, I can’t speak for the dead. And I won’t speak for the missing. I can only tell you what I think happened. Others—the dead and the missing—would p
“Oh, I can’t speak for the dead. And I won’t speak for the missing. I can only tell you what I think happened. Others—the dead and the missing—would probably have their own versions. Blame, I can tell you firsthand, is every bit as subjective as truth�. Powerful. The title of this book, The Lioness, encapsulates the content perfectly. The action, the characters, the outcomes are a gale-force wind, a weight bearing down on you that makes you gasp for air. Putting down this book once you start reading it is a gargantuan effort of separation from one of the most compelling reads you’ll encounter. It will own you, pure and simple. Many people find the thought of going to Africa, to the Serengeti, an irresistible pull. The magnificent sights of lions and leopards and elephants and giraffes and hippos and rhinos and wildebeasts are a temptation of great reward. Walking among the wild, defying death, and feeling one with the earth. Who doesn’t want that? But, too often what we imagine and what is real take us very different places. It's autumn 1964 and one of Hollywood’s most popular leading ladies, Katie Barstow, is a newlywed, having just married a man she’s known since childhood. In fact, David Hill is the best friend of Katie’s brother. Katie has generously invited seven of her close friends and family to go on a dream photo safari as part of her and David’s honeymoon. Meeting the couple to fly out of Paris are Katie’s brother and his wife, her best friend (also and actress) and her husband, her publicist, her agent, and a male actor friend of Katie’s. She’s paying for all of it, and it promises to be the trip of a lifetime. And, for a few days, it is all magical. The owner of Safari Adventures, Charlie Patton, makes sure of that. Employing the best of guides and porters and cooks ensures the guests will want for nothing. Even hot baths and ice are available, and knowing the land so well, Charlie and his guides are able to take the enthusiastic photo hunters where the different animals dwell. But, on the fourth day, after viewing some majestic giraffes drinking water, the camp is attacked by Russian mercenaries who take the guests hostage. It is over quickly, with a few of Patton’s crew killed in a bloody blast of gunfire, while the Hollywood guests are loaded into two different Land Rovers. A third group, consisting of guides and workers, are gathered and secured in a truck. Benjamin Kikwete, a porter, is one of those who is loaded into the truck and who becomes the tenth voice in the chorus of narrators, conveying the fates of his particular group. But, why did the Russian mercenaries take the tourists hostage? It’s a question they all are asking themselves, and the reader will speculate along with the characters. The answer to this burning question won’t be revealed until close to the end of the story. Without the information of just what the kidnappers want, it’s hard to know whether to risk trying to escape. And, really, is escape a choice? Even if the hostages could escape the mercenaries, they aren’t escaping to safety. It’s out of the frying pan into the fire. There are predators waiting in the trees and on the ground for a meal. Getting “eaten� is their worst nightmare. Each member of the Hollywood group, three women and six men, narrates their own current life and death situation, as well as giving background to their lives that brought them here. The chapters alternate from one character to another, with Benjamin Kikwete’s occasional chapters. The author was wise to give readers a list of these characters at the beginning of the book, with a name and brief description of who they are. That list is what helped me keep the characters straight at first, although I found it rather easy to differentiate them early on, as the author created distinct personalities and engaging back stories for each one. Readers are there to the very end with each character, those who lived and those who died. And, there’s no denying that some of those deaths are graphically brutal, and some will shock you more than others. There are no lingering after-life voices. When a character dies, so does their narration. The Hollywood group had “christened themselves the lions of Hollywood at Katie’s wedding,� and those reporting on them in the states used that moniker in their reports. Irony can be a bitch. Hollywood royalty doesn’t matter in the wilds of the Serengeti, and presumptions of grandeur fall on deaf ears as leopards and lions stalk their prey and hyenas circle. Each chapter begins with a snippet from a Hollywood gossip magazine, sometimes about someone in the group and sometimes about other well-known Hollywood stars of that time. These snippets serve to remind the reader just how trivial was the movie star life these nine tourists led compared to their now life and death struggle. Who was seen with whom, or what party one was invited to, that was nothing now. One narrator sums up what had become most important in their lives, “Just stay alive. See if, somehow, we might see the sun rise one more time.� This book has been described as historical fiction and/or literary fiction, and the story does take place in a time of important historical changes in Africa. But, my preferred genre is mystery/crime, and I know a thriller when I read one. The Lioness is as suspenseful and chilling as any thriller I’ve come across. However, the historical elements of the time weaved into the story were well-placed and enriching. The unstable political climate in areas surrounding Tanzania and the Serengeti added another element of danger to the story and played into the Russian mercenaries� disdain for their captives. For the group being held by these men there was the fear of being taken to the Congo where Westerners� lives had no value and Russia was heavily invested in supporting the rebels. And, the setting of Tanzania itself is newly formed from Tanganyika and Zanzibar in East Africa. There’s also the change in the traditional safari that included hunting the animals for trophy heads and skins. The popular type of safari by this time was one in which photos, not heads, were taken. The leader of Katie’s safari, Charlie Patton, had himself been learning to adjust, as he once took the avid hunter and famous writer Ernest Hemingway on his forays. Another interesting item and variable affecting survival is a certain habit that both men and women engaged in during the 1960s, before warning labels were applied to its packaging. I’m sure it’s easy to ascertain what I’m talking about, but you might want to give it some thought as you’re reading through the Hollywood hostages� accounts. If this book were a person, you would call it larger than life. To try and put that into descriptive words for a book, I still fall back on the jargon of another medium, one that is particularly appropriate for this book, with its Hollywood group. The Lioness has a big-screen impact, a cinematic story that encompasses a wide swath of heaven and earth, beauty and danger. Of course, the setting of the Serengeti is itself a sweeping panorama of the splendor of nature. The cast of characters is also epic, both in number and essence, with heroes and the easily defeated. Instead of the trip of a lifetime, they get the test of a lifetime. What is a person really made of when hope is but a flicker in the dark? It may not be something you want to find out. The Lioness is now on my list of favorite reads ever. I will be recommending it to everyone and being rather pushy about it. Oddly, it is the first Chris Bohjalian book I’ve read, and I can’t imagine why that is. I do know that it won’t be the last one I read. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 12, 2022
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Sep 15, 2022
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Sep 12, 2022
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1250846609
| 9781250846600
| B09NTK1KVJ
| 4.09
| 1,989
| Dec 06, 2022
| Dec 06, 2022
|
really liked it
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The Alaska Wild series by Paige Shelton is not a survivalist series, and, yet it is. This mystery/crime series set in the isolated small town of Bened
The Alaska Wild series by Paige Shelton is not a survivalist series, and, yet it is. This mystery/crime series set in the isolated small town of Benedict, Alaska presents a challenge where every person who lives there must respect the weather and the terrain to survive. It’s not a place for the faint of heart. It’s smart living, without smart devices. Cell phone reception is spotty and there are only a few landlines in the town. It’s a good place to get lost, or rather not be found. Beth Rivers has been counting on the isolation of Benedict to protect her from a man who kidnapped, tortured, and intended to kill her back in her home state of Missouri. That man, Travis Walker, is still on the loose and eluding the authorities. Beth has gone from her persona as best-selling mystery writer Elizabeth Fairchild to just plain Beth Rivers, another seeker of anonymity in the wilds of Alaska. Only a few people in Benedict know of her background, with just as few outside of Benedict knowing her where-abouts. In Winter’s End, Beth is seeing shadows of a man whom she fears may be here worst nightmare come to claim her. Beth has made it through her first winter in Benedict, and it’s now springtime, the time residents do the “Death Walk� to determine who has and hasn’t been smart and lucky enough to have another winter under their belt. Although it sounds like a morbid event, it’s a time for the community to gather and see one another, after a long time of being confined to their homes. Most see it as a celebratory time. Even people who are reclusive, deliberately living away from everyone else, come to check in. Two such reclusive families are the Oliphants and the Millers, families who live in the same area of outlying wilderness and who have feuded for years. Beth knows one of the Millers, Kaye, as Beth had given Kaye one of her friend Elijah’s sled dogs when he suddenly left Benedict months before. Beth had been on a walk with Kaye and their dogs just the previous day. On “Death Walk Day,� the residents of the town and the area arrive in Benedict and check their names off a printed list. When it appears all residents who are going to show up have, the list is perused for names left unchecked, and those people’s homes, either in town or out in the country, are visited by groups to determine their well-being. The first person found missing was 94-year-old Al, who lived by himself in an isolated cabin. Beth and Orin, the town librarian (and much more) discovered Al in his cabin but not in the best of shape. When Orin goes back to town to get help in bringing Al down the mountain to see the doctor, Orin disappears. The other person missing on “Death Walk Day� is Warren Miller, Kaye’s husband. It’s shortly determined that his wife Kaye is also missing, and her name was checked off on the list by someone else, person unknown. When one of these two ends up murdered, a tragic story of hate and love must be untangled, and Beth is right in the middle of untangling it. Beth had unofficially worked with her grandfather in law enforcement in Missouri before he died and she started her writing career, and she had a special gift for reading a criminal scene. She’s also trying to solve the mystery of where Orin is and what he’s up to. Then, there’s another curiosity in the story, a male parolee staying at the Benedict House where Beth rents a room from Viola, the manager and person overseeing the half-way house. This is the first time a male has ever stayed there, as it’s supposed to be a half-way house for female non-violent convicts. But, he seems like a nice guy and can cook like nobody’s business. So, there’s lots of intrigue and mystery in this latest book of the Alaska Wild series. It never seems disjointed though. It’s a smooth series of events that all end up sorted, with plenty of surprises. Paige Shelton has created and developed quite a few interesting characters for this series, and readers will learn backgrounds of several in this story that explain their current set of circumstances. Beth will personally receive a couple of big shocks that the readers will enjoy. I am wondering if the series will last much longer with the amount of plot and character forward movement here, but there is certainly room for Beth to have more mysteries to solve and more personal growth to experience. I know that I’m hoping to read many more stories in this favorite series, as I love the Alaska setting and the community of Benedict I’ve gotten to know. Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced copy of Winter’s End. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 07, 2022
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Dec 12, 2022
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Sep 01, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| B09VYFDMFY
| 4.67
| 42
| unknown
| Aug 30, 2022
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it was amazing
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No Deal is the sixth book in the Sin City Investigations series, or as I refer to it, the Jim Bean series. Jim Bean is a Las Vegas private investigato
No Deal is the sixth book in the Sin City Investigations series, or as I refer to it, the Jim Bean series. Jim Bean is a Las Vegas private investigator and the star of the series, a likeable character who always starts off with what seems a simple case that turns into a complex one requiring all hands-on deck. Those supporting hands/characters of Sandy, Eli, and Oscar/O bring skills to the task that work successfully with Jim’s. J.D. Allen is a master at developing interesting characters, both those recurring ones we love and those villainous ones for each different story. And, each story is a thrilling, suspense-filled ride. Jim Bean has accepted a last-minute job to protect the teenage heiress of a businessman from India, Manish Rellan. The girl, Zevah, lives in Las Vegas with her American mother, who has been divorced from Manish for some time. The father is in town on business and has told Zevah that he will take her shopping for her birthday. When an unscheduled meeting comes up for Rellan, he passes that outing on to Jim Bean, her bodyguard for the day. Once again, Jim is looking at an uncomplicated assignment, and once again it all goes to hell. He and Zevah are kidnapped right as they are leaving the parking garage of the casino hotel where her father is staying. The kidnappers are actually there to snatch Zevah, but Jim, in all his devotion to duty, handcuffs himself to Zevah before she’s pushed into a waiting vehicle. Hours later the pair wake up from being doped in what appears to be a cell of sorts, definitely with a door like prisons would have. There is no means of escape, and Jim is still handcuffed to his charge. She informs him that there’s no way her father will pay any ransom, that he has made it clear to all who know him that it will not happen. Of course, Jim isn’t happy to hear that bit of news, as that makes the two of them vulnerable to being readily disposed of. Sandy, Jim’s assistant, has been working hard on the requirements she must meet to become a licensed private investigator. She wants to be official and not just an office assistant who also helps some with investigations. Jim knows that Sandy is a major asset and is happy for the path she’s taking. He will be even happier when it’s Sandy who realizes that Jim and Zevah have been kidnapped and sets in motion the discovery of their location. The discovery of that location prompts Sandy to call on Oscar, a bail bondsman who is one of Jim’s best friends. O has contacts all over, in law enforcement and other places best not mentioned. Eli, who is master of the computers is on a well-earned vacation, so Sandy must dig in deeper than ever to open computer files that aren’t supposed to be opened. O is able to call in a big favor that will help the search for Jim. Eli gets back in time to help, and the Las Vegas Police and the FBI are involved. This is not the first such kidnapping by organized groups in the area, so the FBI is keen to find and interrogate the kidnappers. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, or the cabin in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by mountains of forests, Jim is trying to come up with a plan to escape. It will have to be a plan that involves his teenage client, as they are still blissfully handcuffed together. Time is of the essence since it won’t be long before the kidnappers realize that there’s no ransom money coming. The two points of action, Sandy and crew trying to get to Jim, and Jim orchestrating an escape from armed men, are on a collision course of high-octane action that will leave you gasping. But, the twists that are to follow will knock the wind right out of you. It's possible to read No Deal without reading the previous five books, but those of us who have started at the beginning would advise other readers to do the same. J.D. Allen is one of those writers who a reader recognizes right away is a major talent. Put simply, this author can write. She does it all well—characters, setting, plot, action scenes, self-awareness moments, suspense. Thrilling seems to be overused these days, but J.D. Allen’s writing is the very definition of that. You could substitute riveting or electrifying, but it all comes back to thrilling. And, even beyond that, her books are thrilling with heart and soul in them. The Sin City series never disappoints. It remains one of my favorite contemporary crime fiction series. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 2022
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Sep 07, 2022
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Sep 01, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| 1990550045
| 9781990550041
| B0B69W5748
| 4.55
| 263
| unknown
| Aug 01, 2022
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it was amazing
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I am so happy that there is a new WISE Enquiries mystery out. It’s been quite a wait for a book from one of my favorite series, but Cathy Ace makes it
I am so happy that there is a new WISE Enquiries mystery out. It’s been quite a wait for a book from one of my favorite series, but Cathy Ace makes it easy to jump right back into the charming, quirky Welsh setting of Awen-by-Wye in The Case of the Disgraced Duke. She has put together a cast of characters for this series who are not easily forgotten, ones a reader are always eager to return to. And, while there are the four main characters of the WISE Enquiries Agency, there just as many supporting characters readers can’t get enough of. That is quite the accomplishment for an author. Of course, a good story and interesting setting are also needed, and check, check on those elements. There is always a case, or two, that requires the superpowers of the four women (and the Dowager Duchess Althea, who usually manages to get in on the action). The WISE women are a diverse group of private investigators who, despite their different backgrounds and skills, work brilliantly together. WISE is comprised of one Welsh woman named Carol, who is a whiz at culling information from the computer and assembling it for use; Irish Christine, who is a titled Irish aristocrat with a sharp mind and lots of helpful connections; Scottish Mavis, a retired nurse of wounded soldiers and the organized leader of the group; and English Annie, whose warm and unassuming nature can get almost anyone to open up to her. Those who underestimate these women, like the police and criminals, learn the foolishness of that mistake. There’s lots that seems to be happening in this new book, both personally for the women and work-wise for the agency, and the main focus is a problem at Chellingworth Hall. The WISE Agency has a close, like family, connection with the Duke and Duchess of Chellingworth, and the Dower Duchess. Their first case was for Henry Devereaux Twyst, the eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth, and it is through this case that the women came to the village of Anwen-by-Wye. They even have their offices in a converted barn on the Chellingworth estate, and Christine lives in an apartment in this barn. Mavis lives with Althea, the Dower Duchess, in the Dower House on the estate. So, the Chellingworths and the WISE women have become an intricate part of one another’s lives. Henry is in a state, which isn’t unusual for him. His wife Stephanie is pregnant with their first child, and he’s far more nervous than she is. And, there’s a danger to the reputation of the Chellingworth legacy that has just been discovered. The thirteenth Duke of Chellingworth, Frederick, is rumored to have been an addict who killed two people on the estate without having faced consequences from the law, and Frederick is suspected of committing suicide to end his life. Both Henry and Stephanie are eager to investigate these rumors and, hopefully, put them to rest before the baby is born under a tarnished line. The WISE Agency is just the resource needed to uncover the truth about Frederick. However, at this time, Annie is off on an undercover assignment, Carol is spending every minute she can on a rush background check for a client, and Christine is still not completely recovered from her gunshot wound. This might be a problem for some investigators, but this group can double down like no other. A central command center is set up in the Chellingworth Hall library where books with information pertaining to the time of Duke Frederick are stored. Mavis is there to order the troops, Christine feels she’s up to this work and is there, Henry and Stephanie take an active part to protect their family reputation, Christine’s boyfriend Alexander and a friend of Stephanie’s join in, and there is always the Dower Duchess Althea in the thick of it. There will be a secret report, church records, and documents from a most unexpected source discovered in the search for the truth. As the major operation is taking place at Chellingworth Hall, Annie is off on a covert assignment to Swansea. Two sisters are worried about their elderly father who is involved with a much younger woman, who is also his carer. The sisters are aware of family possessions, such as their mother’s jewelry being sold off recently, and the carer/girlfriend of their father is blocking access to him. Annie poses as another carer come to the area looking for work, and she makes friends with the father's carer in a hotel bar. Annie is unsure whether the woman is taking advantage of the man, but she does know the woman is a heavy drinker. While on this case, Annie is also pondering her relationship with the pub owner in Awen-by-Wye. Carol is working furiously to get a thorough and rushed background check done for a client who is uncertain of the buyer for her hair salon business. Carol’s husband is out of town, and baby Alfred is not making it easy for her to work and get any sleep. She is stretched thin, and the last thing she needs is for her neighbor across the road to ask for help in a theft of jars of jam from her shop. Yet, Carol doesn’t like to turn a fellow villager down who needs help. It’s a mixed bag of results for the different cases in this story, but all the cases show just how dedicated and successful this WISE group is. All the results have long-reaching effects for the clients and I’m predicting for the investigators as well. Annie’s case will have a profound effect on her, and I am wondering what changes the next book will bring in her life. Christine and Carol are also poised for some major decision making, and Mavis is facing a scary situation for someone she loves. I thought that this new addition to the series was a brilliant one. The WISE women are settled into a successful business now, but they aren’t so settled personally. Cathy Ace has given readers a great story in The Case of the Disgraced Duke, and she has set up questions to be answered in the next story. These are not what you might consider traditional cliffhangers, but as is natural in life, a progression towards figuring out what’s important. Fans of this series are going to love this book, and readers just coming into the series will be spurred on, or back, to read the preceding books. Just please don’t keep us waiting for #6 so long this time, Ms. Ace. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 28, 2022
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Sep 2022
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Aug 28, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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my rating |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 4.14
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it was amazing
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Dec 31, 2024
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Nov 19, 2024
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| 4.64
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it was amazing
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May 2023
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Apr 28, 2023
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| 3.62
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it was amazing
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Apr 28, 2023
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Apr 28, 2023
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| 3.97
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it was amazing
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Apr 10, 2023
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Apr 07, 2023
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| 4.24
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it was amazing
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Feb 18, 2023
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Feb 18, 2023
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| 3.28
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it was amazing
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Feb 07, 2023
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Jan 31, 2023
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| 4.14
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it was amazing
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Jan 26, 2023
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Jan 23, 2023
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| 4.10
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it was amazing
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Jan 14, 2023
not set
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Jan 11, 2023
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| 4.49
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it was amazing
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Jan 05, 2023
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Dec 17, 2022
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| 3.95
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it was amazing
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Dec 17, 2022
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Dec 12, 2022
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| 3.54
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it was amazing
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Dec 03, 2022
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Dec 06, 2022
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| 4.11
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it was amazing
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Nov 21, 2022
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Nov 19, 2022
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| 4.45
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it was amazing
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Nov 15, 2022
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Nov 09, 2022
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| 4.45
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it was amazing
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Oct 30, 2022
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Oct 27, 2022
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| 4.25
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it was amazing
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Oct 25, 2022
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Oct 25, 2022
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| 3.91
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it was amazing
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Oct 19, 2022
not set
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Oct 13, 2022
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| 3.72
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it was amazing
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Sep 15, 2022
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Sep 12, 2022
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| 4.09
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really liked it
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Dec 12, 2022
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Sep 01, 2022
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|||||
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| 4.67
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it was amazing
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Sep 07, 2022
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Sep 01, 2022
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|||||
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| 4.55
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it was amazing
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Sep 2022
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Aug 28, 2022
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