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
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Sunday, May 28, 2017
May 21 - 27, 2017
The Day I Died by Lori Rader-Day - Anna Winger is a handwriting expert, often called on by the FBI to delve into a person's mind. She reluctantly agrees to help the local sheriff in a kidnapping case even though she doesn't like to draw attention to herself. Because Anna has secrets too. And they're starting to affect her son. I just didn't like the main character in this slow moving book. And then there are many impossible coincidences at the end to wrap everything up.
2 stars
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The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff - WWII, Germany and Noa is on the run after snatching a baby from a trainload car full of infants. She's already been forced to give up her own baby, the child of a Nazi soldier. She finds safety at the winter camp of a circus but in order to earn her keep is asked to train as a trapeze artist with Astrid. Astrid has her own secrets and resents having to teach someone an impossible task. Not based on but inspired by a circus owner who hid Jews in his circus. Told in the very annoying first person present, and even worse, alternating between the two women. Also, too much trapeze talking and not enough about the circus.
2 stars
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Man Overboard by J.A.Jance - an investigation into a suspicious death leads to a serial killer using the internet to encourage people to commit suicide. Hasn't this been done before? Too much time is spent with the killer and his AI who has become annoyingly self aware. This is the 12th Ali Reynolds book and she still has no personality to me. And as a subplot, the author has decided to get rid of the long time butler, almost as if the character is getting too old for the role.
2 stars
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Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry - Nora arrives at her sister's cottage and finds her brutally murdered. Because of a crime several years earlier, she doesn't trust the police to find the killer. In her haze of grief she is determined to find him herself. Told in first person, it's rather a disjointed read because Nora is not always sure what she's doing or why. A couple of good twists at the end.
3 stars
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Not Tonight, Josephine: A Road Trip Through Small-Town America by George Mahood - Josephine is the name of an untrustworthy car the author and a friend buy to tour America. I enjoy this author and it was fun to see the country through a foreigner's eyes. Especially since he (mostly) enjoyed his trip. And a nice, light read to end my rather dismal reading week.
3 stars
2 stars
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The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff - WWII, Germany and Noa is on the run after snatching a baby from a trainload car full of infants. She's already been forced to give up her own baby, the child of a Nazi soldier. She finds safety at the winter camp of a circus but in order to earn her keep is asked to train as a trapeze artist with Astrid. Astrid has her own secrets and resents having to teach someone an impossible task. Not based on but inspired by a circus owner who hid Jews in his circus. Told in the very annoying first person present, and even worse, alternating between the two women. Also, too much trapeze talking and not enough about the circus.
2 stars
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Man Overboard by J.A.Jance - an investigation into a suspicious death leads to a serial killer using the internet to encourage people to commit suicide. Hasn't this been done before? Too much time is spent with the killer and his AI who has become annoyingly self aware. This is the 12th Ali Reynolds book and she still has no personality to me. And as a subplot, the author has decided to get rid of the long time butler, almost as if the character is getting too old for the role.
2 stars
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Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry - Nora arrives at her sister's cottage and finds her brutally murdered. Because of a crime several years earlier, she doesn't trust the police to find the killer. In her haze of grief she is determined to find him herself. Told in first person, it's rather a disjointed read because Nora is not always sure what she's doing or why. A couple of good twists at the end.
3 stars
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Not Tonight, Josephine: A Road Trip Through Small-Town America by George Mahood - Josephine is the name of an untrustworthy car the author and a friend buy to tour America. I enjoy this author and it was fun to see the country through a foreigner's eyes. Especially since he (mostly) enjoyed his trip. And a nice, light read to end my rather dismal reading week.
3 stars
Sunday, May 21, 2017
May 14 - 20, 2017
Every Day Is a Holiday by George Mahood - George begins to feel his life has become mundane and as a way to make things more interesting decides to celebrate the odd holidays on the calendar. He decides to devote six months to celebrating such days as Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, Inane Answering Machine Message Day, and National Curmudgeon Day. He's fortunate his wife mostly tolerates his experiment. Just the thing when you want a quick, humorous read.
3 stars
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Life's a Beach by George Mahood - George continues celebrating odd holidays the last six months of the year. But his family also moves to Devon and this book is much more about his family life and how much he enjoys them.
3 stars
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Harry Benson's America by Harry Benson - I watched a documentary about the photographer and wanted to see some of his pictures better. A large book with lots of photos. In the back is a thumbnail of each picture and the story of its being taken.
3 stars
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Fallout by Sara Paretsky - the 18th V.I.Warshawski book finds Vic out of Chicago for the first in Lawrence, Kansas. She's gone there to find an aging actress and the filmmaker who have gone there to make a movie. What she keeps finding instead are dead people and women in danger. Government secrets and race relations figure largely in a story that seems to go on just a little bit too long.
3 stars
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Operation Ironman: One Man's Four Month Journey from Hospital Bed to Ironman Triathalon by George Mahood - shortly after Life's a Beach, George began experiencing debilitating back pain. While recovering from surgery to remove a tumor from his spinal cord, he decided he would begin training for a triathalon to prove to himself he would get better. So he entered one that was only four months away, a detail that is mentioned many times. This book is all about his training. I will admit I got teary eyed when he crossed the finish line.
3 stars
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Golden Prey by John Sandford - in the 27th Lucas Davenport book, Davenport is now working for the U.S.Marshall's office as a sort of special agent able to pick his own cases. Someone has robbed a drug runner's money handling operations, killing five people in the process and he decides to go after them. Unfortunately, the drug runner is after them too, using two people with no qualms about killing and torture to get information. Now it's going to be who can find the robbers first. Typical Prey book, lots of shooting and swearing.
3 stars
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Harry Benson: The Beatles by Harry Benson - photographs from 1964-1966 by the author of the group as they began their world tour. Lots of casual photos he was able to get because he traveled with them. (Boy, did this make me feel old.)
3 stars
3 stars
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Life's a Beach by George Mahood - George continues celebrating odd holidays the last six months of the year. But his family also moves to Devon and this book is much more about his family life and how much he enjoys them.
3 stars
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Harry Benson's America by Harry Benson - I watched a documentary about the photographer and wanted to see some of his pictures better. A large book with lots of photos. In the back is a thumbnail of each picture and the story of its being taken.
3 stars
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Fallout by Sara Paretsky - the 18th V.I.Warshawski book finds Vic out of Chicago for the first in Lawrence, Kansas. She's gone there to find an aging actress and the filmmaker who have gone there to make a movie. What she keeps finding instead are dead people and women in danger. Government secrets and race relations figure largely in a story that seems to go on just a little bit too long.
3 stars
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Operation Ironman: One Man's Four Month Journey from Hospital Bed to Ironman Triathalon by George Mahood - shortly after Life's a Beach, George began experiencing debilitating back pain. While recovering from surgery to remove a tumor from his spinal cord, he decided he would begin training for a triathalon to prove to himself he would get better. So he entered one that was only four months away, a detail that is mentioned many times. This book is all about his training. I will admit I got teary eyed when he crossed the finish line.
3 stars
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Golden Prey by John Sandford - in the 27th Lucas Davenport book, Davenport is now working for the U.S.Marshall's office as a sort of special agent able to pick his own cases. Someone has robbed a drug runner's money handling operations, killing five people in the process and he decides to go after them. Unfortunately, the drug runner is after them too, using two people with no qualms about killing and torture to get information. Now it's going to be who can find the robbers first. Typical Prey book, lots of shooting and swearing.
3 stars
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Harry Benson: The Beatles by Harry Benson - photographs from 1964-1966 by the author of the group as they began their world tour. Lots of casual photos he was able to get because he traveled with them. (Boy, did this make me feel old.)
3 stars
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
May 7 - 13, 2017
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins - two women die just a few months apart in a river that has claimed several lives over the decades. This revives mysteries, old and current. I found the writing style irritating, the story is told from every character's viewpoint, I suppose in an effort to build suspense. . I think the author is trying too hard to be different.
3 stars
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Death Comes for the Deconstructionist by Daniel Taylor - Joe Mote is struggling mentally and sinking fast when he's hired to look into the death of his former professor. He's aided in his investigation by his developmentally disabled sister who in some ways is the smarter of the two. This is not a typical mystery. It has lots to say about academic culture, Christianity, race relations, and who defines truth.
3.5 stars
3 stars
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Death Comes for the Deconstructionist by Daniel Taylor - Joe Mote is struggling mentally and sinking fast when he's hired to look into the death of his former professor. He's aided in his investigation by his developmentally disabled sister who in some ways is the smarter of the two. This is not a typical mystery. It has lots to say about academic culture, Christianity, race relations, and who defines truth.
3.5 stars
Sunday, May 7, 2017
April 30 - May 6, 2017
Garden of Lamentations by Deborah Crombie - a nanny is found dead inside a private garden and somehow Gemma James is sucked into the investigation. Meanwhile, Duncan Kincaid is greatly distracted by meeting his former boss secretly. When the man is attacked and left for dead on his way home, it starts to look like something is very wrong on the police force. The author has an unfortunate habit of trying to weave everyone the main characters have ever met into subsequent stories so there were a lot of people to remember before finally getting down to the story. The plots don't intertwine at all except to keep Duncan and Gemma at cross purposes while they try to manage family and cases. And for some reason she even throws a heart attack in for Duncan's father that serves no purpose I can see but to set up a plot line for the next book.
3 stars
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Himself by Jess Kidd - Mahoney has always believed his mother abandoned him as a baby but when he is 26 he receives information telling him his real name and where he was born. So he returns to the town of Mulderrig to find out the truth. He causes quite a stir with his good looks and charm. But some people hate him because of his mother. She was so disliked she may have been murdered. Set in 1976 and the late '40s, this is an odd combination of ghost story/murder mystery/charming Irish tale. Lots of swearing, although for some reason I don't find Irish swearing as offensive. It gets very repetitious.
3 stars
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Earthly Remains by Donna Leon - the 26th Commissario Brunetti book finds him very much in need of a break from the bleakness of his job. His wife suggests he go to her aunt's villa on one of the islands near Venice. There he meets David Casati, the caretaker of the villa. They spend many hours rowing together while Casati travels to care for his bees. Then Casati goes missing and Brunetti once again steps into his professional role. Lots of nothing happened in this book and while the mystery is solved, there is not really a conclusion. One of the enjoyable things about Brunetti books is the home life and there's not enough of that in this book. This one was pretty blah.
2 stars
3 stars
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Himself by Jess Kidd - Mahoney has always believed his mother abandoned him as a baby but when he is 26 he receives information telling him his real name and where he was born. So he returns to the town of Mulderrig to find out the truth. He causes quite a stir with his good looks and charm. But some people hate him because of his mother. She was so disliked she may have been murdered. Set in 1976 and the late '40s, this is an odd combination of ghost story/murder mystery/charming Irish tale. Lots of swearing, although for some reason I don't find Irish swearing as offensive. It gets very repetitious.
3 stars
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Earthly Remains by Donna Leon - the 26th Commissario Brunetti book finds him very much in need of a break from the bleakness of his job. His wife suggests he go to her aunt's villa on one of the islands near Venice. There he meets David Casati, the caretaker of the villa. They spend many hours rowing together while Casati travels to care for his bees. Then Casati goes missing and Brunetti once again steps into his professional role. Lots of nothing happened in this book and while the mystery is solved, there is not really a conclusion. One of the enjoyable things about Brunetti books is the home life and there's not enough of that in this book. This one was pretty blah.
2 stars
Sunday, April 30, 2017
April 23 - 29, 2017
Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich - Stephanie is trying to catch a bail jumper when the ice cream truck he has stolen crashes. Out falls a frozen body covered in chocolate and nuts. Turns out there are mysterious goings on at an ice cream factory. And that's about as deep as the plot gets. I used to find this series funny but it's pretty tired now. And smutty.
2 stars
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Two Days Gone by Randall Silvas - a perfect family is found murdered and the professor/famous writer husband is on the run. And Sergeant Ryan DeMarco is beginning to wonder if the husband is actually guilty. He starts looking at the writer's book in progress for clues. Told from the husband's and DeMarco's viewpoint. This is a rather dark book; dark weather, dark thoughts, and dark pasts.
4 stars
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In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson - a very fun travelogue/history lesson of the very large country of Australia. The author loves the country and it shows. I learned lots of interesting things told in an amusing way. I do wonder how much things have changed since 2001. Movie and tv stars seem to have raised our Australian awareness somewhat. My favorite Bryson book so far.
4 stars
2 stars
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Two Days Gone by Randall Silvas - a perfect family is found murdered and the professor/famous writer husband is on the run. And Sergeant Ryan DeMarco is beginning to wonder if the husband is actually guilty. He starts looking at the writer's book in progress for clues. Told from the husband's and DeMarco's viewpoint. This is a rather dark book; dark weather, dark thoughts, and dark pasts.
4 stars
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In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson - a very fun travelogue/history lesson of the very large country of Australia. The author loves the country and it shows. I learned lots of interesting things told in an amusing way. I do wonder how much things have changed since 2001. Movie and tv stars seem to have raised our Australian awareness somewhat. My favorite Bryson book so far.
4 stars
Sunday, April 23, 2017
April 16 - 22, 2017
The Sea of Monsters
The Titan's Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympian all by Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson continues his battle against the Titans. All while dealing with teenage stuff. And trying to figure out what the prophecy really means about him. This all culminates in a battle for Olympus itself in New York. Lots of action and battles against mythical creatures. Loyalty, betrayal, courage, and steadfastness. I enjoyed these YA fantasy books but am going to end the series here where this story line wraps up.
3 stars
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Burning Bright by Nicholas Petrie - the second Peter Ash book starts with a bang and just keeps on going. June Cassidy is threatened by shadowy government agents (are they?) and runs for her life. Peter, still suffering from PTSD, and June meet in an improbable way and he is immediately attracted to her toughness. Evidently June has a computer program written by her mother that lots of people want and they're not picky about how they get it. Lots of running from danger, shooting, and language with some non-graphic sex scenes. It does get a little muddled near the end but by that point I didn't care. I liked this as much or more as the first in the series and would like to get to know Peter Ash more.
4.5 stars
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High Heat by Lee Child - it's 1977 and an almost 17 yo Jack Reacher hits New York City just in time to save an FBI agent and experience a total blackout. He also takes on a mob boss and gives a valuable clue to the identity of Son of Sam. All totally unbelievable, at 16 he's built like he is now and just as much a smart mouth. Still fun though. There is a soft porn sex scene. I'm disappointed the author is feeling the need to insert these and am wondering if he's being pushed by a publisher or going through a midlife crisis. Lots happening in this very short ebook.
3 stars
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The Waste Lands by Stephen King - Roland, the last Gunslinger is still searching for the Dark Tower. Now he has Susannah and Eddie with him, the people from our world he drew to him on the beach. But the fate of Jake, the boy he met in the first book, is driving him mad. How can the boy be dead and not dead. And in our world Jake feels he is going insane too. He feels he should be dead but is not. Lots of magicky stuff happens until they're all together.When they reach a city, they meet insane people and insane computers. The book ends with them hurtling toward certain death as they try to stump Blaine the monorail with riddles. I feel the author didn't plot this book so much as ad lib it.
3 stars
The Titan's Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympian all by Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson continues his battle against the Titans. All while dealing with teenage stuff. And trying to figure out what the prophecy really means about him. This all culminates in a battle for Olympus itself in New York. Lots of action and battles against mythical creatures. Loyalty, betrayal, courage, and steadfastness. I enjoyed these YA fantasy books but am going to end the series here where this story line wraps up.
3 stars
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Burning Bright by Nicholas Petrie - the second Peter Ash book starts with a bang and just keeps on going. June Cassidy is threatened by shadowy government agents (are they?) and runs for her life. Peter, still suffering from PTSD, and June meet in an improbable way and he is immediately attracted to her toughness. Evidently June has a computer program written by her mother that lots of people want and they're not picky about how they get it. Lots of running from danger, shooting, and language with some non-graphic sex scenes. It does get a little muddled near the end but by that point I didn't care. I liked this as much or more as the first in the series and would like to get to know Peter Ash more.
4.5 stars
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High Heat by Lee Child - it's 1977 and an almost 17 yo Jack Reacher hits New York City just in time to save an FBI agent and experience a total blackout. He also takes on a mob boss and gives a valuable clue to the identity of Son of Sam. All totally unbelievable, at 16 he's built like he is now and just as much a smart mouth. Still fun though. There is a soft porn sex scene. I'm disappointed the author is feeling the need to insert these and am wondering if he's being pushed by a publisher or going through a midlife crisis. Lots happening in this very short ebook.
3 stars
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The Waste Lands by Stephen King - Roland, the last Gunslinger is still searching for the Dark Tower. Now he has Susannah and Eddie with him, the people from our world he drew to him on the beach. But the fate of Jake, the boy he met in the first book, is driving him mad. How can the boy be dead and not dead. And in our world Jake feels he is going insane too. He feels he should be dead but is not. Lots of magicky stuff happens until they're all together.When they reach a city, they meet insane people and insane computers. The book ends with them hurtling toward certain death as they try to stump Blaine the monorail with riddles. I feel the author didn't plot this book so much as ad lib it.
3 stars
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