The Bees by Laline Paull - Flora 717 is a sanitation worker in the hive. But she seems to be a little different from other workers and is put to work in the nursery. Royal intrigue, becoming more than your destiny, danger, and jealousy - all within a beehive.
4 stars
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Dying Words by C.A. Larmer - a free e-book and part of a series about a ghostwriter who seems to get involved in murder mysteries while working on a book. A man's dying words are about Roxy Parker and something he gave her. She's hired by the man's daughter to find out what. I might have enjoyed it more if I had started the series at the beginning but I won't be reading anymore.
2 stars
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Raiders of the Nile by Steven Saylor - a prequel to the Gordianus the Finder novels, this finds Gordianus in Alexandria as young man. His slave (and love), Bethesda is kidnapped in error and he must join a band of thieves to get her back.
3.5 stars
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The Inner Circle by Brad Meltzer - I don't usually like political intrigue stories but this moved right along and didn't have a lot of characters. An archivist at the National Archives sneaks an old friend into a secret area and starts a chain of events that lead all the way to the president.
3 stars
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Bird Box by Josh Malerman - something is out there and if you see it you go mad. Malorie decides to leave the house where she has lived with her children the last four years to try to find a safe place. And she has to make the trip blindfolded, using her children as her ears. The story goes back and forth between the journey and what has lead up to it. This book made me really nervous, I didn't have a clue how it would end. A little gruesome in parts. Also, one of the most beautiful dedications I've read.
5 stars
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Hollow City by Ransom Riggs - the second of the Miss Peregrine and the peculiar children novels. Now the children are trying to get to London during WWII to return Miss Peregrine to her human form. These are YA books and there is the obligatory romance and matter of factness violence.
4 stars
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Notorious by Allison Brennan - Maxine is an investigative reporter back in her hometown to attend the funeral of her high school friend. She begins to investigate a recent unsolved murder and that leads her to secrets about an old murder.
3 stars
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The Son by Jo Nesbo - this is a stand alone, not part of his Harry Hole' series. Sonny has spent almost half his life in prison when he discovers something about his father and escapes. He begins revenge killing. The police and criminals are looking for him. Although Sonny is also a criminal and does some horrendous things, I somehow found myself rooting for him. A couple of unexpected twists at the end. I really like the way this author writes. Would be rated R for violence if it were a movie.
5 stars
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Sunday, May 18, 2014
May 11-17, 2014
The Flatey Enigma by Victor Arnar Ingolfsson - The Flatey Saga is a real book that is a collection of Icelandic sagas. The story is built around a riddle posed by the sagas. An unidentified body is found on an uninhabited islet close to Flatey island. The story takes place in 1960 and is a good look at how the islanders live. In between each chapter is a portion of the Saga. Usually gruesome. There are so many Icelandic names and places that I had a little trouble keeping track of things.
2 stars
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What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman - a woman involved in a hit and run claims she is one of two sisters kidnapped 30 years ago but she refuses to talk about it. The story goes back and forth in time and has many viewpoints.
4 stars
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3 a.m. by Nick Pirog - Henry Bins has a condition so rare it's named after him. He is only awake one hour a day, 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. One night he hears a woman scream and sees a man coming out of her house - the President. This was a free ebook and I really enjoyed it. Parts were amusing but it was also a little crude in places.
4 stars
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Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey - a murder investigation set in Ghana. Inspector Donnie Darko is sent to the same town his mother disappeared from 25 years ago to investigate a murder. He's hot tempered and sometimes lets that get the best of him when dealing with suspects. He's not always a law abiding policeman. It was interesting to read a mystery set in a country I'm not familiar with. I'll be reading the next in the series.
3 stars
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The Creaky Knees Guide Washington by Seabury Blair Jr. - a guide to 100 hikes the author thinks are easy. Actually, the ratings go from stroll in the park to knee punishing, so they're not all easy. A brief description of each hike.
2 stars
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Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter - everyone in this book has an anger problem: the killer, the coroner, the ex-husband sheriff, the detective. Also very graphic. I should have quit but wanted to know who dunnit. Won't be reading any more by this author.
1 star
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Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood - the first Phyrne Fisher novel. I have watched the first season of the Miss Fisher mysteries but my sister told me the books were different enough to read. Phyrne is a wealthy (although not always so) single woman in the 1920's. She is asked to go to Australia to find out what is wrong with a young woman. She gets caught up in a cocaine ring. Some s*x scenes. A little too much description of what she's wearing and eating.
3 stars
2 stars
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What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman - a woman involved in a hit and run claims she is one of two sisters kidnapped 30 years ago but she refuses to talk about it. The story goes back and forth in time and has many viewpoints.
4 stars
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3 a.m. by Nick Pirog - Henry Bins has a condition so rare it's named after him. He is only awake one hour a day, 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. One night he hears a woman scream and sees a man coming out of her house - the President. This was a free ebook and I really enjoyed it. Parts were amusing but it was also a little crude in places.
4 stars
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Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey - a murder investigation set in Ghana. Inspector Donnie Darko is sent to the same town his mother disappeared from 25 years ago to investigate a murder. He's hot tempered and sometimes lets that get the best of him when dealing with suspects. He's not always a law abiding policeman. It was interesting to read a mystery set in a country I'm not familiar with. I'll be reading the next in the series.
3 stars
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The Creaky Knees Guide Washington by Seabury Blair Jr. - a guide to 100 hikes the author thinks are easy. Actually, the ratings go from stroll in the park to knee punishing, so they're not all easy. A brief description of each hike.
2 stars
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Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter - everyone in this book has an anger problem: the killer, the coroner, the ex-husband sheriff, the detective. Also very graphic. I should have quit but wanted to know who dunnit. Won't be reading any more by this author.
1 star
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Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood - the first Phyrne Fisher novel. I have watched the first season of the Miss Fisher mysteries but my sister told me the books were different enough to read. Phyrne is a wealthy (although not always so) single woman in the 1920's. She is asked to go to Australia to find out what is wrong with a young woman. She gets caught up in a cocaine ring. Some s*x scenes. A little too much description of what she's wearing and eating.
3 stars
Sunday, May 11, 2014
May 4-10, 2014
The Other Story by Tatiana De Rosnay - Nicholas is an unambitious young man who finds out something unexpected about his family. He writes a book that becomes a best seller and almost immediately falls in love with fame and fortune. I found him very unsympathetic at first. The story meanders quite a bit, going back and forth from the present to what led him to write the book. Quite a bit of explicit sex which I didn't expect. The last two chapters raised this from 2 to
3 stars
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A Gladiator Dies Only Once by Steven Saylor - a collection of short Gordianus the Finder stories. These fill in the gaps between several novels. There is a timeline at the end to help with where things fit in. Some interesting tidbits about life in Rome like what garum is and exactly what a censor did.
3.5 stars
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Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell - thank goodness this was a short book, I would have quit if it had been longer. Very depressing book about a 16 yo girl looking for her father's body so they won't lose the house he used to post bail. Language, violence, endless walking in the cold.
1 star
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Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan - David Loogan is befriended by a man, becomes an editor for his mystery magazine, and starts an affair with his wife. When the man is killed, David is one of the main suspects. This was a pretty twisty one with no one knowing what's going on. Things are revealed but maybe that's not the whole truth. The first in a series, I'll be reading the next.
4 stars
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The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen - four unemployed college graduates decide to take up kidnapping as a profession. They pride themselves on being professional and careful. Then they kidnap the wrong man. The story is told from several viewpoints - the kidnappers, the police and FBI, and the other people hunting for them.
3 stars
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A Question of Identity by Susan Hill - the 7th Simon Serailler novel. This starts differently, with a trial and an acquittal. Ten years pass and finally halfway through the book there is the first murder. Simon isn't a jerk this time but other familiar characters are. Some loose ends from the previous book are cleared up. I have to wait until Oct for the next book to come out.
4 stars
3 stars
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A Gladiator Dies Only Once by Steven Saylor - a collection of short Gordianus the Finder stories. These fill in the gaps between several novels. There is a timeline at the end to help with where things fit in. Some interesting tidbits about life in Rome like what garum is and exactly what a censor did.
3.5 stars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell - thank goodness this was a short book, I would have quit if it had been longer. Very depressing book about a 16 yo girl looking for her father's body so they won't lose the house he used to post bail. Language, violence, endless walking in the cold.
1 star
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Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan - David Loogan is befriended by a man, becomes an editor for his mystery magazine, and starts an affair with his wife. When the man is killed, David is one of the main suspects. This was a pretty twisty one with no one knowing what's going on. Things are revealed but maybe that's not the whole truth. The first in a series, I'll be reading the next.
4 stars
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The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen - four unemployed college graduates decide to take up kidnapping as a profession. They pride themselves on being professional and careful. Then they kidnap the wrong man. The story is told from several viewpoints - the kidnappers, the police and FBI, and the other people hunting for them.
3 stars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Question of Identity by Susan Hill - the 7th Simon Serailler novel. This starts differently, with a trial and an acquittal. Ten years pass and finally halfway through the book there is the first murder. Simon isn't a jerk this time but other familiar characters are. Some loose ends from the previous book are cleared up. I have to wait until Oct for the next book to come out.
4 stars
Sunday, May 4, 2014
April 27 - May 3, 2014
A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths - the 4th Ruth Galloway mystery. Drugs, horses and old bones are all mixed together in a story that was just a little too mystical for me. And in my last review I said I was getting involved with the characters but this time it's a little too soap operaish. I think I'd better wait awhile before the next one.
3 stars
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A Betrayal of Trust by Susan Hill - a Simon Serrailler novel. I like these stories but sometimes Simon's character is not very sympathetic and he's at his worst here. The bones of a girl missing for 16 years are found and Simon is in charge of the investigation. That part goes pretty slowly but there are lots of other people to wonder about. Not everything is wrapped up and I hope it is at least mentioned in the next book.
3 stars
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Blood Will Out by Walter Kirn - a true account of the author's friendship with the con artist and murderer Christian Gerharstreiter who was calling himself Clark Rockefeller at the time of their meeting. A little too much about the author but still interesting.
3 stars
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Eve Green by Susan Fletcher - Eve reflects on her life as she nears the end of her pregnancy. A story of love and loss. I thought it was beautifully written.
4 stars
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Ruth's First Christmas Tree by Elly Griffiths - I know, I said I was taking a break from Ruth for awhile but this was a short ebook that was free. It bridges the gap between books 4 and 5. Just a story about Ruth getting her first tree because of her daughter.
3 stars
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A Simple Plan by Scott B. Smith - two brothers and a friend find a downed airplane and discover 4.4 million dollars in it. They decide to keep the money. Disaster ensues. I read this with a building sense of dread.
3.5 stars
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The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart - the funny and sad, almost at the same time, story of Balthazar Jones. He lives and works in the Tower of London and somehow finds himself the keeper of the new zoo. In the meantime, he and his wife are still having difficulty dealing with the death of their son. This book is filled with facts about the tower, I'm going to assume they're true.
4 stars
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Children of the Revolution by Peter Robinson - a disgraced professor is found dead and Inspector Banks suspects it may have something to do with what happened at university 40 years ago. Lots of police work has to be done before things are solved. Not sure I liked the ending.
3 stars
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Carnal Curiosity by Stuart Woods - okay, pretty sure this is the last Stone Barrington novel I read. Hopefully I can control my series OCD. When Stone is having s*x three pages into the book with someone he's had a 10 min conversation with it's time to throw in the towel. The plot was muddied with former book characters thrown in for no apparent reason. I wonder if Mr Woods even writes these anymore, seems like a new one is out every 6 months.
2 stars
3 stars
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Betrayal of Trust by Susan Hill - a Simon Serrailler novel. I like these stories but sometimes Simon's character is not very sympathetic and he's at his worst here. The bones of a girl missing for 16 years are found and Simon is in charge of the investigation. That part goes pretty slowly but there are lots of other people to wonder about. Not everything is wrapped up and I hope it is at least mentioned in the next book.
3 stars
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blood Will Out by Walter Kirn - a true account of the author's friendship with the con artist and murderer Christian Gerharstreiter who was calling himself Clark Rockefeller at the time of their meeting. A little too much about the author but still interesting.
3 stars
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eve Green by Susan Fletcher - Eve reflects on her life as she nears the end of her pregnancy. A story of love and loss. I thought it was beautifully written.
4 stars
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ruth's First Christmas Tree by Elly Griffiths - I know, I said I was taking a break from Ruth for awhile but this was a short ebook that was free. It bridges the gap between books 4 and 5. Just a story about Ruth getting her first tree because of her daughter.
3 stars
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Simple Plan by Scott B. Smith - two brothers and a friend find a downed airplane and discover 4.4 million dollars in it. They decide to keep the money. Disaster ensues. I read this with a building sense of dread.
3.5 stars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart - the funny and sad, almost at the same time, story of Balthazar Jones. He lives and works in the Tower of London and somehow finds himself the keeper of the new zoo. In the meantime, he and his wife are still having difficulty dealing with the death of their son. This book is filled with facts about the tower, I'm going to assume they're true.
4 stars
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Children of the Revolution by Peter Robinson - a disgraced professor is found dead and Inspector Banks suspects it may have something to do with what happened at university 40 years ago. Lots of police work has to be done before things are solved. Not sure I liked the ending.
3 stars
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Carnal Curiosity by Stuart Woods - okay, pretty sure this is the last Stone Barrington novel I read. Hopefully I can control my series OCD. When Stone is having s*x three pages into the book with someone he's had a 10 min conversation with it's time to throw in the towel. The plot was muddied with former book characters thrown in for no apparent reason. I wonder if Mr Woods even writes these anymore, seems like a new one is out every 6 months.
2 stars
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