Hour of the Wolf by Hakan Nesser - a teenage boy is killed in a hit and run accident and somehow this leads to a murder. And another. Not realizing the first is connected to the second, the police struggle to find a motive and any clues at all. Retired Chief Inspector Van Veeteren becomes involved in a personal way. The seventh in the series. I've not read them all, some of the earlier books are harder to get in English.
4 stars
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The Hanging Girl by Jussi Adler-Olsen - in this Dept. Q installment, Carl refuses to take a cold case from an acquaintance. When there are severe consequences, his secretary Rose is infuriated and forces him to take the case. Twenty years ago a young girl was hit by a car and thrown into a tree. Only one man thought it was more than an accident. It's fascinating to watch the detectives find the smallest of threads to go back 20 years. There are little side plots that I find irritating because they don't seem to ever be resolved. I didn't finish the previous book in this series, it just didn't grab me. This one did.
4 stars
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Sunday, July 10, 2016
July 3 - 9, 2016
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware - Nora wakes up in the hospital and gradually comes to the realization that she's been in an accident and someone is dead. She remembers being invited to a hen party of a friend she hasn't seen for 10 years, but what happened in the hours right before the accident? The characters seem a little childish but I found the gradual unfolding of the story satisfying.
4 stars
4 stars
Sunday, July 3, 2016
June 26 - July 2, 2016
Rough Riders: Theodore Roosevelt, His Cowboy Regiment, and the Immortal Charge Up San Juan Hill by Mark Lee Gardner - from the forming of the Rough Riders to the posthumous award of the Medal of Honor for Roosevelt. What I found most interesting was how eager Roosevelt and all his volunteers were to engage in war. It certainly wasn't a war run with military precision. Lots of bungling from the higher-ups. This seems to have been extensively researched, with lots of excerpts from letters and diaries.
3 stars
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Brotherhood in Death by J.D.Robb - the 42nd Eve Dallas book. What starts out as a missing person case becomes several murders of revenge. I think I complained about the previous book being more graphic than I remembered the series being and this is the same. I read these mostly for the relationships between Eve and her friends but am getting tired of sifting through the other stuff. And there are the obligatory sex scenes with Eve and her husband. At least those I know are a page and a half and can easily skip them. I do like watching Eve and her team catch the bad guys, you usually know who they are fairly soon.
2 stars
3 stars
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Brotherhood in Death by J.D.Robb - the 42nd Eve Dallas book. What starts out as a missing person case becomes several murders of revenge. I think I complained about the previous book being more graphic than I remembered the series being and this is the same. I read these mostly for the relationships between Eve and her friends but am getting tired of sifting through the other stuff. And there are the obligatory sex scenes with Eve and her husband. At least those I know are a page and a half and can easily skip them. I do like watching Eve and her team catch the bad guys, you usually know who they are fairly soon.
2 stars
Sunday, June 26, 2016
June 19 - 25, 2016
The Highwayman by Craig Johnson - a Walt Longmire novella inspired by Charles Dicken's The Signal Man.A highway patrol officer is getting radio calls from a trooper who died 30 years ago.
3 stars
3 stars
Sunday, June 19, 2016
June 12 - 18, 2016
War Hawk by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood - the second book about Tucker Wayne and his war dog Kane. Tucker is contacted by a former army colleague, telling him she and her son are in danger and another colleague is missing. Lots of action with shooting, explosions, intelligent drones, and Kane biting the bad guys. One of my least favorite plots, a megalomaniac trying to control everything, this time using cyber information. I'm reading this series for the dog.
3 stars
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Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz - Bibi Blair has just been told she has incurable cancer. After a strange experience in the night, she finds she has been cured. Why? She comes to believe it is to save Ashley Bell. But who is Ashley Bell and where is she? Who are the strange people after her? And what are the memories she can't remember? I got sucked into this right away and then two thirds in there was a twist that made me wish I could read faster. I've never read Dean Koontz because I've always thought of him as an author of the supernatural and horror. Although this has a touch of that, I prefer to think of it as suspense and fantasy. This is one you'll either love or hate. 560 pages that flew by.
5 stars
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Dinner with Edward: A Story of an Unexpected Friendship by Isabel Vincent - the author is asked by a friend to have dinner with her father, Edward. His wife of 62 years has just died and he feels he can't go on. What starts out as a favor has unexpected rewards for Isabel. A short book with good food.
3 stars
3 stars
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Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz - Bibi Blair has just been told she has incurable cancer. After a strange experience in the night, she finds she has been cured. Why? She comes to believe it is to save Ashley Bell. But who is Ashley Bell and where is she? Who are the strange people after her? And what are the memories she can't remember? I got sucked into this right away and then two thirds in there was a twist that made me wish I could read faster. I've never read Dean Koontz because I've always thought of him as an author of the supernatural and horror. Although this has a touch of that, I prefer to think of it as suspense and fantasy. This is one you'll either love or hate. 560 pages that flew by.
5 stars
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Dinner with Edward: A Story of an Unexpected Friendship by Isabel Vincent - the author is asked by a friend to have dinner with her father, Edward. His wife of 62 years has just died and he feels he can't go on. What starts out as a favor has unexpected rewards for Isabel. A short book with good food.
3 stars
Sunday, June 12, 2016
June 5 - 11, 2016I
My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni - Tracy Crosswhite became a detective because of the disappearance of her sister 20 years ago. She is convinced the man serving a prison sentence for the murder is innocent, which means the real killer is out there. When her sister's body is discovered, she is determined to find the truth. A couple of good twists. The beginning of a series and I will probably read more.
3.5 stars
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The Most Perfect Thing: Inside (and Outside) a Bird's Egg by Tim Birkhead - a very detailed description of how a bird's egg is formed, laid, and hatched and how much it varies from bird to bird. The author has studied birds, mainly the guillemot, for over 40 years. I enjoyed the beginning of the book but soon got bogged down with the many scientific terms. It is fascinating how complex an egg is.
2.5 stars
3.5 stars
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The Most Perfect Thing: Inside (and Outside) a Bird's Egg by Tim Birkhead - a very detailed description of how a bird's egg is formed, laid, and hatched and how much it varies from bird to bird. The author has studied birds, mainly the guillemot, for over 40 years. I enjoyed the beginning of the book but soon got bogged down with the many scientific terms. It is fascinating how complex an egg is.
2.5 stars
Sunday, June 5, 2016
May 29 - June 4, 2016
Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz - The Nowhere Man can help you when no one else can. But now he's in need of help himself. Contacted by two people for help at the same time, he's pretty sure one is a setup. But how to tell? Evan Smoak was originally trained as a covert assassin, buried deep behind government intel. Now he's on his own in a bad situation getting worse. This is the first in the series and I'm anxious for the next one. PG13 at least on the violence level.
4 stars
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The Black Star of Kingston by S.D.Smith - a prequel to The Green Ember. The rabbit community, led by King Whitsun, are hopeful they've found a safe place to rebuild. But on a journey to find coal, they find terror coming out of the mountains. Loyalty, bravery, obedience and lots of other good traits in a children's book. With lots of action, too.
3.5 stars
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The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza - it's possible I was not in the right mood to read this. DCI Erika Foster is thrown into the beginning of a murder case when she should probably not be working at all. She's still recovering from the death of her husband in a botched police raid she led. An influential man's daughter is found murdered and the investigation is hampered by politics. I don't like books where the police fight among themselves and the top officers are unjust. Very crude sex stuff. I won't be reading anymore of this series and I'm very much in the minority at Goodreads.
1 star
4 stars
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The Black Star of Kingston by S.D.Smith - a prequel to The Green Ember. The rabbit community, led by King Whitsun, are hopeful they've found a safe place to rebuild. But on a journey to find coal, they find terror coming out of the mountains. Loyalty, bravery, obedience and lots of other good traits in a children's book. With lots of action, too.
3.5 stars
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The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza - it's possible I was not in the right mood to read this. DCI Erika Foster is thrown into the beginning of a murder case when she should probably not be working at all. She's still recovering from the death of her husband in a botched police raid she led. An influential man's daughter is found murdered and the investigation is hampered by politics. I don't like books where the police fight among themselves and the top officers are unjust. Very crude sex stuff. I won't be reading anymore of this series and I'm very much in the minority at Goodreads.
1 star
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