Nov 5 - 11, 2017

The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones - in this dystopian thriller, humanity is living in zones behind a destructive salt line because miner ticks carry a deadly disease that kills quickly and horribly. A group of adventure seekers pay a lot of money to go on an excursion beyond the salt line to see what things used to look like. The story is told from the viewpoint of three of these people, all of whom have very different reasons for being there. But very soon in their journey they are taken captive by a group of people living in the wilderness who have very definite plans for their group. The ending was somewhat of a letdown. Some violence.

4 stars
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The Sorbonne Affair by Mark Pryor - the 7th Hugo Marston book has a wealth of suspects, false clues, many theories, and a touch of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. Marston is approached by a famous author who says she has found a hidden camera in her hotel room. Soon there's a murder, leaked videos, and more murders. And to top it off, a criminal with revenge on his mind has been released back in the states and may be on his way to Paris.

3.5 stars
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Secrets in Death by J.D.Robb - the 45th Lt. Eve Dallas book. Eve is meeting a colleague at a posh bar when a famous gossip monger staggers up the stairs and dies in her arms. It turns out many people had reason to wish Larinda Mars dead, she was blackmailing them. Eve and her team have almost too many suspects. People aren't dropping like flies as they often do in these books, this is pretty much a procedural. There are only two of the obligatory sex scenes, easily skipped.

3.5 stars
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House of Spies by Daniel Silva - the 17th Gabriel Allon book. At the end of the previous book, Allon had finally become the head of Israel's intelligence agency. But that doesn't stop him from becoming very involved in the hunt for Saladin, the terrorist responsible for attacks in America, London, and France. The whole team is back including one of my favorite's, Keller, who is a stone cold killer. The 544 page book is mostly the setting up and recruiting of the people necessary to reach Saladin but I didn't find it boring at all. Much of that is due to the author's smooth writing. Plus, I always wonder how much he really knows.

4.5 stars
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MatchUp edited by Lee Child - 22 authors, 11 stories featuring such diverse characters as Jack Reacher, Termperance Brennan, Joe Pickett, and Lucan Thorne. This introduced me to some new authors and characters, some of which I'll investigate further. Equally interesting to me was how the authors worked together on the stories, I'm glad that part was included.

3 stars
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Into Oblivion by Arnaldur Indridason - one of the books in the Inspector Erlendur series, which are not published in English in the order of their Icelandic publication. This is one of the prequels, taking place in 1979. A man's body is found in a lagoon but evidence shows that he fell from a great height onto a hard surface. Suspicion focuses on the American base that has caused a great difference of opinion in Iceland. At the same time, Erlendur is unofficially looking into the disappearance of a young girl that took place forty years ago. Both cases end quite climatically.

4 stars