Gone to Sea in a Bucket by David Black - Harry Gilmour signs up for the English Navy at the beginning of WWII. He finds the class division on board disheartening and after an unpleasant incident transfers to begin training for submarine duty. Here he finds the common purpose more to his liking. There are secret missions, drunken commanders, and escapes from sinking submarines. The action parts are quite good but I found the book way too detailed in the actual operating of the submarine. Most readers on Goodreads disagree with me.
3 stars
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Black Mad Wheel by Josh Malerman - The Danes, a group of musicians from Detroit are asked by the government to find the location of a strange sound that drives men mad and can make weapons useless. Why them? Because they are musicians and were in the service during WWII. They travel to a desert in Africa and of course, things go downhill from there. This is all told in very short spurts as a man wakes up from a six month coma with every bone in his body broken. So we go back and forth in time getting little bits of information. The what is going on is very compelling. The end is ????? I had very high hopes for this book, I gave his first book, The Bird Box, 5 stars. I still don't know what the sound was.
1 star
Saturday, June 24, 2017
Thursday, June 15, 2017
June 11 - 17, 2017
The Thirst by Jo Nesbo - an odd murder in Oslo, the victim's wounds have rust and paint in them. When there is a second victim, the police chief asks Harry Hole to come back to the police force from his current job teaching at the police academy. Harry almost immediately suspects a former nemesis of the crimes and his hunch soon proves to be true. Lots of twists and turns and when it's seemingly all wrapped up you know there's more to come because there are several pages to go. A little too drawn out, not my favorite in the series.
3 stars
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The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett - Arthur Prescott loves to do research, especially about his beloved library in a British cathedral. He is secretly searching for the Holy Grail, inspired by his grandfather. When an American comes to the library to digitize the manuscripts he worries that she is also after the grail. Together they begin a search for a manuscript that may tell all. Lots of book references, witty repartee, and code solving.
3 stars
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Silent Scream by Angela Marsons - the 1st in the D.I. Kim Stone series. Two gruesome murders are found to have a link and that leads to buried bodies at an old children's home. Kim has a connection to a similar institution and a burning desire to find the person responsible for the deaths. At times I found her character too abrasive but she has her reasons. There are four more books in the series but I don't think I'll continue, the subject matter is a little too dark for me.
3 stars
3 stars
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The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett - Arthur Prescott loves to do research, especially about his beloved library in a British cathedral. He is secretly searching for the Holy Grail, inspired by his grandfather. When an American comes to the library to digitize the manuscripts he worries that she is also after the grail. Together they begin a search for a manuscript that may tell all. Lots of book references, witty repartee, and code solving.
3 stars
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Silent Scream by Angela Marsons - the 1st in the D.I. Kim Stone series. Two gruesome murders are found to have a link and that leads to buried bodies at an old children's home. Kim has a connection to a similar institution and a burning desire to find the person responsible for the deaths. At times I found her character too abrasive but she has her reasons. There are four more books in the series but I don't think I'll continue, the subject matter is a little too dark for me.
3 stars
Sunday, June 11, 2017
June 4 - 10, 2017
The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz - a Sherlock Holmes story commissioned by the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes is approached by an art dealer who fears he is being threatened by a member of an American gang. The dealer was instrumental in a police action that resulted in all the gang members being killed except one, the man he thinks is threatening him. But somehow this all becomes an investigation into the mysterious House of Silk, the very mention of which can find you threatened by high figures in the government. Holmes and Watson face some of their darkest moments. I thought the style very much like Doyle's.
4 stars
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The Three Monarchs by Anthony Horowitz - an elderly man shoots an intruder. When it is discovered the intruder had robbed three houses of the identical figurines of Queen Victoria, Abeltheny Jones calls in Sherlock Holmes. A short story, the solution of which leaves Jones very downhearted. Which is important to the next story....
3 stars
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Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz - directly after Sherlock and Moriarty's meeting at Reichenback Falls, Pinkerton detective Frederick Chase and Abeltheny Jones meet when they arrive to view the body of Moriarty. Chase is on the heels of three American bad guys wanting to partner with Moriarty. They find a clue that leads them all over London, trying to find the elusive criminal who rarely ventures outside. This story is told by Chase so it doesn't have the flavor of House of Silk.
3.5 stars
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An Apple Core, a Toilet:Misadventures and Memories of a 1970's Childhood by Tom Purcell - a collection of newspaper columns. Somewhat humorous but very repetitious. In real life, I suppose the columns would be spaced out a little more. Since these were collected to support his theme of kids need to be outside and parents only worry now because of 24 hour news, the stories got a little old.
2 stars
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I don't usually review books I haven't finished but this needs a warning label.
An Innocent Client by Scott Pratt - the language is crude, one character's attitude towards women is appalling and his sexual comments are awful. The plot is the all too familiar evil preacher who secretly goes to strip clubs and ends up murdered. Plus the main character is depressed. I quit after a couple of chapters.
4 stars
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The Three Monarchs by Anthony Horowitz - an elderly man shoots an intruder. When it is discovered the intruder had robbed three houses of the identical figurines of Queen Victoria, Abeltheny Jones calls in Sherlock Holmes. A short story, the solution of which leaves Jones very downhearted. Which is important to the next story....
3 stars
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Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz - directly after Sherlock and Moriarty's meeting at Reichenback Falls, Pinkerton detective Frederick Chase and Abeltheny Jones meet when they arrive to view the body of Moriarty. Chase is on the heels of three American bad guys wanting to partner with Moriarty. They find a clue that leads them all over London, trying to find the elusive criminal who rarely ventures outside. This story is told by Chase so it doesn't have the flavor of House of Silk.
3.5 stars
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An Apple Core, a Toilet:Misadventures and Memories of a 1970's Childhood by Tom Purcell - a collection of newspaper columns. Somewhat humorous but very repetitious. In real life, I suppose the columns would be spaced out a little more. Since these were collected to support his theme of kids need to be outside and parents only worry now because of 24 hour news, the stories got a little old.
2 stars
************************************************************************
I don't usually review books I haven't finished but this needs a warning label.
An Innocent Client by Scott Pratt - the language is crude, one character's attitude towards women is appalling and his sexual comments are awful. The plot is the all too familiar evil preacher who secretly goes to strip clubs and ends up murdered. Plus the main character is depressed. I quit after a couple of chapters.
Sunday, June 4, 2017
May 28 - June 3, 2017
The Cold Cold Ground by Sean McKinty - Sean Duffy is a Catholic detective in a Protestant police force in Northern Ireland, 1981. Besides riot duty and violence from the troubles, he is investigating what looks like a homophobic double murder. There may be a serial killer on the loose. While I enjoyed the mystery portion and '80's references, the rest of the book was a little too depressing. This is the first book (6 so far) of a series I don't think I will continue.
3 stars
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A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline - an imagining of the life of Christina Olson, the muse for Andrew Wyeth's painting, Christina's World. At a young age, Christina was struck with a painful, debilitating disease. She lived her entire life on the farm pictured in the painting always doing what was expected and not what she desired. I really liked the way this book flowed. And because I was thrilled to enjoy a book.....
5 stars
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I See You by Clare MacIntosh - Zoe Walker finds her picture in the classifieds with the caption FindtheOne.com and becomes determined to find out what's behind it. Her family thinks it's not her but she becomes convinced it is. Soon, she and a police detective find links between the ads and assaults on women. Told from three perspectives - Zoe, in first person, the detective, and the person behind the website. I suspected everyone in the book at times. I thought Zoe's character was whiny and didn't really like her. But, I can't get the last two pages of the book out of my head.
4.5 stars
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The River at Night by Erica Ferencik - four friends, all with their own hangups, go on a rafting adventure on a river deep in the Maine woods. When an accident occurs they are suddenly forced to try to survive the wilderness. Some minor side issues never addressed, some language, and an uncomfortable sex scene (for the other three women).
3 stars
3 stars
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A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline - an imagining of the life of Christina Olson, the muse for Andrew Wyeth's painting, Christina's World. At a young age, Christina was struck with a painful, debilitating disease. She lived her entire life on the farm pictured in the painting always doing what was expected and not what she desired. I really liked the way this book flowed. And because I was thrilled to enjoy a book.....
5 stars
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I See You by Clare MacIntosh - Zoe Walker finds her picture in the classifieds with the caption FindtheOne.com and becomes determined to find out what's behind it. Her family thinks it's not her but she becomes convinced it is. Soon, she and a police detective find links between the ads and assaults on women. Told from three perspectives - Zoe, in first person, the detective, and the person behind the website. I suspected everyone in the book at times. I thought Zoe's character was whiny and didn't really like her. But, I can't get the last two pages of the book out of my head.
4.5 stars
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The River at Night by Erica Ferencik - four friends, all with their own hangups, go on a rafting adventure on a river deep in the Maine woods. When an accident occurs they are suddenly forced to try to survive the wilderness. Some minor side issues never addressed, some language, and an uncomfortable sex scene (for the other three women).
3 stars
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