The Blondes by Emily Schultz - graduate student Hazel Hayes has just discovered she's pregnant. And then she witnesses one of the first incidents caused by a pandemic affecting only blonde women. A virus is causing the women to go berserk and attack anyone in range. And it doesn't seem to matter if the blondes are natural or fake. I didn't find Hazel very likeable but was still swept up in the story. Frank and matter of fact in talk of sex and bodily functions. This is one you'll either love or hate.
4 stars
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The Kill by Jane Casey - the 5th Maeve Kerrigan book. A policeman is found dead in his car. Is it personal or is someone targeting cops? It's beginning to look like the latter and Maeve may know the reason. Maeve's superior, Derwent, is irritatingly chauvinistic and then he'll turn around and be understanding. He's part of what makes these books appealing to me but he's certainly not pc.
4.5 stars
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Of Things Gone Astray by Janina Matthewson - told in very short chapters about several different characters, all of whom have suddenly lost something important too them. Piano keys, house walls, the building where they worked. And Jake, a young boy whose mother has died, is in danger of losing the most important thing. I usually like quirky books like this but it seemed rather bland to me. And left too many questions unanswered. I'm in the minority on Goodreads.
2 stars
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Apr 3 - 9, 2016
The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart - Mark is a boy who has a dog, a best friend, and loving parents. He also has cancer. He decides the last thing he wants to do is climb Mt. Rainier so he runs away from home with his dog, a camera, and a notebook. I found the whole book sad and worried about the dog the whole time. Written for older children about a heavy subject. I did like the writing, just wasn't in the right mood.
2 stars
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Cold Call by Dean Wesley Smith - from a series about retired detectives who try to solve cold cases. This has the gang on the trail of a serial killer who is incredibly wealthy and thus able to thwart the law. Fortunately, the main character has a daughter with an incredibly wealthy boyfriend who makes his resources available to them! Very repetitive and like lots of ebooks, could have used some good editing. "Lot was stunned from the air that he could see the ruggedness of the wilderness they were flying over." Just one of many sentences that had me going ? I only finished this because I was waiting for an appt. to be over.
1 star
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Between the Living and the Dead by Bill Crider - the 22nd Sheriff Dan Rhodes book has the sheriff investigating the death of a drug dealer in a haunted house. Everyone jumps on the paranormal bandwagon, especially when a second body is found. Of course there are the usual county happenings, a runaway bull in the Walmart parking lot, feral pigs, and people not using their turn signals. Fits the cozy genre nicely.
3 stars
2 stars
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Cold Call by Dean Wesley Smith - from a series about retired detectives who try to solve cold cases. This has the gang on the trail of a serial killer who is incredibly wealthy and thus able to thwart the law. Fortunately, the main character has a daughter with an incredibly wealthy boyfriend who makes his resources available to them! Very repetitive and like lots of ebooks, could have used some good editing. "Lot was stunned from the air that he could see the ruggedness of the wilderness they were flying over." Just one of many sentences that had me going ? I only finished this because I was waiting for an appt. to be over.
1 star
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Between the Living and the Dead by Bill Crider - the 22nd Sheriff Dan Rhodes book has the sheriff investigating the death of a drug dealer in a haunted house. Everyone jumps on the paranormal bandwagon, especially when a second body is found. Of course there are the usual county happenings, a runaway bull in the Walmart parking lot, feral pigs, and people not using their turn signals. Fits the cozy genre nicely.
3 stars
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Mar 27 - Apr 2, 2016
The Waters of Eternal Youth by Donna Leon - the 25th Commissario Guido Brunetti book. He's asked to look into the almost drowning of a young woman that occurred 15 years ago. There is the usual finessing of his superior in order to re-open the case. I usually enjoy the family life over the mystery in these books. But this mystery is very compelling to Brunetti and I thought made for a better story.
3 stars
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The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton - Ruby and her mother arrive in Alaska to meet her father and almost immediately learn he has been killed in an accident in a native town. But Ruby's mother refuses to believe it and sets off into the dark Alaskan wild. What made this improbable plot work for me was Ruby - she's 10 and deaf and much of the story is told from her viewpoint. The other various viewpoints do get in the way. In spite of the flaws I enjoyed it quite a bit.
4 stars
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Thursday's Children by Nikki French - the 4th Freida Klein book. Freida is asked by an old school friend to talk to her daughter and this leads her to an incident from her past. She returns to her home town, reconnecting with her mother and friends. She seems very cold in this book, almost unlikable, and the ending was improbable.
2 stars
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Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean - the author wrote this book because of her own fascination with Rin Tin Tin. By the time she and I were watching the television show, the dog was already the 4th to portray Rinty. I hadn't realized the original had made so many movies. From the dog's beginnings in WWI Germany to the fairly recent lawsuits over who owns the rights to the story with some discussion of dogs in war.
3 stars
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Beastkeeper by Cat Hellison - Sarah's mother deserts her family and then things really get bad. A YA fantasy tale that I may have enjoyed if I were a tween. I just didn't get this at all and found it depressing.
1 star
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What You Left Behind by Samantha Hayes - DCI Lorraine Fisher is visiting her sister in a small village that had multiple teenage suicides two years ago. And now her nephew is moody and withdrawn. It appears two more teenagers have just taken their lives. This book seemed very disjointed to me. Told from various viewpoints. Also throw away comments relating to the first book in the series that made no sense if you hadn't read it.
2 stars
3 stars
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The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton - Ruby and her mother arrive in Alaska to meet her father and almost immediately learn he has been killed in an accident in a native town. But Ruby's mother refuses to believe it and sets off into the dark Alaskan wild. What made this improbable plot work for me was Ruby - she's 10 and deaf and much of the story is told from her viewpoint. The other various viewpoints do get in the way. In spite of the flaws I enjoyed it quite a bit.
4 stars
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Thursday's Children by Nikki French - the 4th Freida Klein book. Freida is asked by an old school friend to talk to her daughter and this leads her to an incident from her past. She returns to her home town, reconnecting with her mother and friends. She seems very cold in this book, almost unlikable, and the ending was improbable.
2 stars
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Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean - the author wrote this book because of her own fascination with Rin Tin Tin. By the time she and I were watching the television show, the dog was already the 4th to portray Rinty. I hadn't realized the original had made so many movies. From the dog's beginnings in WWI Germany to the fairly recent lawsuits over who owns the rights to the story with some discussion of dogs in war.
3 stars
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Beastkeeper by Cat Hellison - Sarah's mother deserts her family and then things really get bad. A YA fantasy tale that I may have enjoyed if I were a tween. I just didn't get this at all and found it depressing.
1 star
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What You Left Behind by Samantha Hayes - DCI Lorraine Fisher is visiting her sister in a small village that had multiple teenage suicides two years ago. And now her nephew is moody and withdrawn. It appears two more teenagers have just taken their lives. This book seemed very disjointed to me. Told from various viewpoints. Also throw away comments relating to the first book in the series that made no sense if you hadn't read it.
2 stars
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Mar 20 - 26, 2-16
Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin - John Rebus is now retired and is bored, bored, bored. So he jumps at the chance to become involved when someone shoots at his old nemesis, Big Ger Cafferty. A convoluted tale of gangsters against gangsters, or maybe not. It could be something from the past. I thought this one cheated a little in the plot. Rebus is still as ornery as ever.
3 stars
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No Shred of Evidence by Charles Todd - 1920, four young women are accused of trying to drown a young man from their rowboat. They claim they were trying to rescue him. Inspector Rutledge is called to the case when the original inspector drops dead on his first day. There are only the conflicting stories of the one witness and the women. Thankfully, Hamish, the soldier ghost who haunts the mind of Rutledge is not heard from very much. I always like to see how Rutledge investigates his cases. I enjoyed this very much. Maybe not a total 5 but close enough.
5 stars
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Deep Blue by Randy Wayne White - Doc Ford has finally bungled one of his secretive missions and the mistake is going to affect everyone living at Dinkins Bay. He's made really bad people mad at him. I still don't like all the mystical Tomlinson stuff. Much better than some of the more recent books. 23rd in the series, and I've read them all.
4 stars
3 stars
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No Shred of Evidence by Charles Todd - 1920, four young women are accused of trying to drown a young man from their rowboat. They claim they were trying to rescue him. Inspector Rutledge is called to the case when the original inspector drops dead on his first day. There are only the conflicting stories of the one witness and the women. Thankfully, Hamish, the soldier ghost who haunts the mind of Rutledge is not heard from very much. I always like to see how Rutledge investigates his cases. I enjoyed this very much. Maybe not a total 5 but close enough.
5 stars
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Deep Blue by Randy Wayne White - Doc Ford has finally bungled one of his secretive missions and the mistake is going to affect everyone living at Dinkins Bay. He's made really bad people mad at him. I still don't like all the mystical Tomlinson stuff. Much better than some of the more recent books. 23rd in the series, and I've read them all.
4 stars
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Mar 13 - 19, 2016
The Crossing by Michael Connelly - the 20th Harry Bosch novel finds Harry at loose ends after his abrupt retirement from the LAPD. When he's asked by his half-brother Mickey Haller to look into one of his cases he initially balks at crossing to the other side. But his obsession with the truth soon has him wondering if the police have it right. Almost too much detail for my taste.
3 stars
3 stars
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Mar 6 - 12, 2016
Into the Savage Country by Shannon Burke - an adventure story set in the 1820's era of fur trapping in the west. William Wyeth is determined to make something of himself and joining a fur brigade seems to be the way to do it. An unlikely group of men pull together to form a company of trappers who then have run-ins with Indians and the British of the Hudson Trading Company. Also a love story is intertwined. I really liked the way the author wrote.
4 stars
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The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge by Charlie Lovett - twenty years after Scrooge's turn around, he is annoying everyone around him with his relentless cheeriness and generosity. When Marley's ghost visits him again, he comes up with a scheme to help Marley rid himself of the last of his chains. Written in the style of Dickens and using many locales from his books. A slim book and quick read.
3 stars
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Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man by William Shatner and David Fisher - I didn't realize the two actors had so much in common. Only 4 days apart in age and raised in Jewish families. They didn't actually become good friends until Star Trek was over and they began attending conventions together. Mr Shatner seems a little more open than in previous books I've read by him. I think he probably narrated the stories and Mr. Fisher did the actual writing.
3 star
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Death Wears a Mask by Ashley Weaver - a mystery regarding stolen jewelry becomes a case of murder in this second Amory Ames book. It's set in the 1930's, but these elite English characters seem untouched by any financial worries. Amory is still having trouble with her husband and they both approach the problem with very British reserve. If the series continues I hope that part doesn't, I find it very irritating. I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series.
3.5 stars
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The Theory of Death by Faye Kellerman - the 23rd Peter and Lina Decker book. They've settled into their new life upstate New York after living in California for 21 books. A student suicide at one of the five colleges in the area begins an investigation into missing thesis notes. Way too much math talk and very repetitive too. Then there's a murder with a somewhat lame conclusion. The inside jacket blurb is wrong in it's description, did whoever wrote it read the book?
3 stars but barely
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Keller on the Spot by Lawrence Block - our favorite contract killer is casing his next job when something very unexpected happens. Not a book but a very short story that I probably read a long time ago. But I always enjoy Keller's inner musings as he goes about his work.
3 stars
4 stars
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The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge by Charlie Lovett - twenty years after Scrooge's turn around, he is annoying everyone around him with his relentless cheeriness and generosity. When Marley's ghost visits him again, he comes up with a scheme to help Marley rid himself of the last of his chains. Written in the style of Dickens and using many locales from his books. A slim book and quick read.
3 stars
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Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man by William Shatner and David Fisher - I didn't realize the two actors had so much in common. Only 4 days apart in age and raised in Jewish families. They didn't actually become good friends until Star Trek was over and they began attending conventions together. Mr Shatner seems a little more open than in previous books I've read by him. I think he probably narrated the stories and Mr. Fisher did the actual writing.
3 star
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Death Wears a Mask by Ashley Weaver - a mystery regarding stolen jewelry becomes a case of murder in this second Amory Ames book. It's set in the 1930's, but these elite English characters seem untouched by any financial worries. Amory is still having trouble with her husband and they both approach the problem with very British reserve. If the series continues I hope that part doesn't, I find it very irritating. I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series.
3.5 stars
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The Theory of Death by Faye Kellerman - the 23rd Peter and Lina Decker book. They've settled into their new life upstate New York after living in California for 21 books. A student suicide at one of the five colleges in the area begins an investigation into missing thesis notes. Way too much math talk and very repetitive too. Then there's a murder with a somewhat lame conclusion. The inside jacket blurb is wrong in it's description, did whoever wrote it read the book?
3 stars but barely
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Keller on the Spot by Lawrence Block - our favorite contract killer is casing his next job when something very unexpected happens. Not a book but a very short story that I probably read a long time ago. But I always enjoy Keller's inner musings as he goes about his work.
3 stars
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Feb 28 - Mar 5, 2016
Locked In by Kerry Wilkinson - one of the first self-published successes on Amazon, it was a top seller in the UK. The first book in the Jessica Daniels series. Somehow a murderer is killing random people and leaving them in a locked house and the police have no idea how he's getting in and out. The mystery part was compelling. But like many self-published books, this could have used some good editing. Had to buy this from the UK as it's no longer available as an e-book. If anyone reading this would like it, first come, first served.
3 stars
3 stars
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