The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny - a young boy given to telling tall tales, a rumor of a secret weapon from the past, and a serial killer with more secrets all combine into quite the mystery for retired Chief Inspector Gamache. Quite suspenseful at the end and I was very worried for one of the minor characters. One of the best of the series.
5 stars
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3:34 a.m. by Nick Pirog - another Henry Bins e-book. Henry is only awake for an hour every night. Now he's searching for his mother, the person responsible for his condition. There's also a 30 year old murder thrown in. I was so mad at the end of the previous book I didn't know if I would read more in the series. I'm glad I gave it another chance and am looking forward to the next. These really need to be read in order and with a suspension of disbelief.
4 stars
Friday, August 28, 2015
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Aug16 - 22, 2015
Think of a Number by John Verdon - recently retired homicide detective Dave Gurney is drawn into a baffling case by an old college friend. An anonymous letter writer is claiming intimate knowledge of his friend. Very compelling, I picked this up at 2 am to see if I was going to like it and finished at 5:30 am.
4.5 stars
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Taboo by Casey Hill - forensic investigator Reilly Steel has moved to Dublin to help bring their forensic dept up to speed. Several murders with seemingly no motive prove to be connected and it looks like there's a serial killer on the loose. A little gory, rather like CSI or NCIS.
3 stars
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3:06 a.m. the Lassie Files by Nick Pirog - Henry Bins is watching his father's 160 lb dog when the dog has a medical emergency in the middle of the night. At the emergency vet's, Henry, his cat and the dog become hostages. A very short e-story, improbable but amusing.
3 stars
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The Shining Skull by Kate Ellis - the 11th Wesley Peterson book. Several plot lines - a man kidnapped 30 years ago returns to his family home, a man disguised as a cab driver is cutting the hair of his blond women passengers, and a teen singing sensation is kidnapped. For the historical mystery, Wesley's friend Neil has discovered a second body in a coffin being relocated. Lots of fun trying to figure this one out.
4 stars
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The Gray and Guilty Sea by Jack Nolte - Garrison Gage, a retired PI, finds a body on the beach. In spite of himself, he finds that he's curious about what happened. He's a grumpy and sarcastic man, which I found a little off putting. The story bogs down a little in the middle but there's some good action at the end. One badly written sex scene. This was a free e-book.
3 stars
4.5 stars
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Taboo by Casey Hill - forensic investigator Reilly Steel has moved to Dublin to help bring their forensic dept up to speed. Several murders with seemingly no motive prove to be connected and it looks like there's a serial killer on the loose. A little gory, rather like CSI or NCIS.
3 stars
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3:06 a.m. the Lassie Files by Nick Pirog - Henry Bins is watching his father's 160 lb dog when the dog has a medical emergency in the middle of the night. At the emergency vet's, Henry, his cat and the dog become hostages. A very short e-story, improbable but amusing.
3 stars
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The Shining Skull by Kate Ellis - the 11th Wesley Peterson book. Several plot lines - a man kidnapped 30 years ago returns to his family home, a man disguised as a cab driver is cutting the hair of his blond women passengers, and a teen singing sensation is kidnapped. For the historical mystery, Wesley's friend Neil has discovered a second body in a coffin being relocated. Lots of fun trying to figure this one out.
4 stars
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The Gray and Guilty Sea by Jack Nolte - Garrison Gage, a retired PI, finds a body on the beach. In spite of himself, he finds that he's curious about what happened. He's a grumpy and sarcastic man, which I found a little off putting. The story bogs down a little in the middle but there's some good action at the end. One badly written sex scene. This was a free e-book.
3 stars
Monday, August 10, 2015
Aug 9 - 15, 2015
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein - Kyle loves to play games of any sort but he's not much of a reader. When he wins a place in the overnight lock-in at the new library in town, he doesn't know what to expect. Then the stakes are raised and Kyle and his friends search for a way out of the library. A children's book full of the usual stereotypes.
2 stars
2 stars
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Aug 2 - 8, 2015
Brush Back by Sara Paretsky - the 17th V.I. Warshawski novel. V.I. is asked by an old friend to exonerate his mother of the murder of her daughter after she has already served her 25 year sentence. This leads to a convoluted tale of Chicago political corruption, old neighborhood hatreds, and Russian mobsters. Round and round we go with about 100 pages too many. Language.
3 stars
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Silent Creed by Alex Kava - the 2nd book featuring Ryder Creed and his search and rescue dogs. He's searching for bodies or survivors after a landslide buries several houses and a gov't medical research facility. While I liked that part, the whole thing was rather disjointed, going back and forth between people and places. I find political cover-up stories irritating and it was pretty cliche-ish. Too many sneaky people, not enough dogs.
2 stars
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The Swede by Robert Karjel - a Swedish secret policeman is asked by the Americans to determine if an imprisoned terrorist is also Swedish. A very convoluted tale involving the Thailand tsunami, art theft, hate groups, and secret torture. I'm not sure what I think about this one. I set it down many times, thinking I was done. While I don't recommend it, I found it strangely compelling. A very ambivalent.....
2 stars
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The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths - the 7th Ruth Galloway novel. A buried WWII airplane is discovered with the pilot inside. Evidence shows that he was murdered and that his body was not always in the plane. Mystery surrounds the Blackstock family and the ghost fields of old airfields. Ruth isn't quite as whiny, and Cathbad, her druid friend, proves to not be infallible. In fact, he's not very prominent, which I found a welcome change. Although it takes awhile for things to get going, the ending has enough twists to be interesting. I like the way the minor characters are developing.
4 stars (which may be just because it was nice to read something I really enjoyed)
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The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro - an elderly couple in a time long ago set out on a journey to visit the son they can barely remember. Along the way they're assisted by a Saxon warrior and his orphan companion and an old knight. Although this is called a fantasy, and had fantasy elements, I found it to be more about relationships and memories.
4 stars
3 stars
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Silent Creed by Alex Kava - the 2nd book featuring Ryder Creed and his search and rescue dogs. He's searching for bodies or survivors after a landslide buries several houses and a gov't medical research facility. While I liked that part, the whole thing was rather disjointed, going back and forth between people and places. I find political cover-up stories irritating and it was pretty cliche-ish. Too many sneaky people, not enough dogs.
2 stars
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The Swede by Robert Karjel - a Swedish secret policeman is asked by the Americans to determine if an imprisoned terrorist is also Swedish. A very convoluted tale involving the Thailand tsunami, art theft, hate groups, and secret torture. I'm not sure what I think about this one. I set it down many times, thinking I was done. While I don't recommend it, I found it strangely compelling. A very ambivalent.....
2 stars
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The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths - the 7th Ruth Galloway novel. A buried WWII airplane is discovered with the pilot inside. Evidence shows that he was murdered and that his body was not always in the plane. Mystery surrounds the Blackstock family and the ghost fields of old airfields. Ruth isn't quite as whiny, and Cathbad, her druid friend, proves to not be infallible. In fact, he's not very prominent, which I found a welcome change. Although it takes awhile for things to get going, the ending has enough twists to be interesting. I like the way the minor characters are developing.
4 stars (which may be just because it was nice to read something I really enjoyed)
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The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro - an elderly couple in a time long ago set out on a journey to visit the son they can barely remember. Along the way they're assisted by a Saxon warrior and his orphan companion and an old knight. Although this is called a fantasy, and had fantasy elements, I found it to be more about relationships and memories.
4 stars
Sunday, August 2, 2015
July 26 - Aug 1, 2015
Guardians of the Night by Alan Russell - the 2nd in the Gordon and Sirius series, Gordon being the cop and Sirius his dog. Together they're the only members of LAPD's Special Cases Unit. A man claims he saw an angel being murdered and of course that leads to a series of more deaths. Gordon is too wise-cracking for my taste and there are a lot of extraneous facts thrown around.
2 stars
2 stars
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