Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Bookstagram: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Book Review: The Fundamentals of Murder by William F. Love
The Fundamentals of Murder by William F. LoveBook Details
Publisher: Endeavour Press, Kindle edition, 327 pages
Publish Date: February 13, 2017
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Crime Thriller
Source: NetGalley digital edition
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Synopsis Auxiliary Bishop Francis X. Regan, a frustrated crime-solving paraplegic with an IQ of 220, and his special assistant Davey Goldman, a New York City cop-turned-private-eye, once more find themselves embroiled in a high-stakes case of murder and embezzlement. A serial killer, dubbed Strangler John by the media, has been terrorizing the streets for weeks. On four consecutive Friday nights, a woman has been murdered, her garroted body discovered the next day with a card reading REPENT! thrust into her mouth. Despite enormous amounts of public pressure, the police have no leads…at least until Jerry Fanning arrives in the Big Apple. A young fundamentalist preacher, Fanning arrives in New York City from Oklahoma, wife and baby son in town, convinced that the Lord has sent him to convert the entire city to Jesus. Unfortunately for him, he arrives two days before the first murder, and it doesn’t take long before the police uncover clues pointing to him as Strangler John. The evidence is circumstantial, but it’s enough for Fanning to suddenly find himself behind bars. Fortunately for him, he’d met Bishop Regan and Goldman during his short-lived mission to convert the citizens of the Big Apple to Jesus. Convinced that the police have the wrong man, the Bishop puts his razor-sharp mind to work, delving for clues among the victims themselves. Three of the victims were prostitutes; the fourth was a wealthy businesswoman who moved in high social circles. Determined to find the reason for this discrepancy, the Bishop turns to Goldman’s contacts, street smarts, and leg-work to find the answers they seek. Between the Bishop’s brain and Goldman’s brawn, they’re convinced it’s only a matter of time before Fanning will be exonerated… ~Goodreads
My Review
The book description sounded very intriguing to me and I wanted to like this book but I could never really get into it.
The story is told through the eyes of Davey Goldman, a private investigator and ex-homicide detective with NYPD. Davey also works part-time as a special assistant to a Catholic Bishop named Francis Regan. Bishop Regan is a very intelligent man who happens to be paraplegic due to a gunshot wound he suffered six years ago. Bishop Regan gets pretty cranky and Davey is witty and sarcastic which leads to a strange and rocky relationship. Despite their bickering and bantering they use the Bishop’s brains and the David’s investigative street-smarts to solve crimes together.
One day a man named Jerry Fanning shows up and asks to see Bishop Regan. He says he had a vision of Jesus telling him to go tell Bishop Regan about Him. Jerry had only arrived in New York a few weeks before from Oklahoma. Before leaving, Bishop and Jerry pray together and Bishop Regan tells Jerry to let him know if he ever needs anything.
Jerry Fanning ends up taking the Bishop up on the offer not long after when he is suspected of being the serial killer the media has dubbed “Strangler John”. The evidence against Jerry is circumstantial and after meeting with Jerry in jail, the Bishop is convinced of his innocence and agrees to help him.
The Fundamentals of Murder was not a bad story but it wasn’t a great story either in my opinion. I liked how the author used wit, humor, and sarcasm throughout the story. I found myself laughing out loud at times. The overall story just did not keep my attention so I give this one a 3 out of 5 stars.
Thank you William F. Love, Endeavour Press, and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.
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Thursday, March 2, 2017
Book Review: Blink by K.L. Slater
Blink by K.L. SlaterBook Details
Publisher: Bookouture, Kindle edition, 295 pages
Publish Date: February 16, 2017
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Thriller
Source: NetGalley digital edition
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Blurb from Book Description on Goodreads: What if the person you love most in the world was in terrible danger … because of you?
Three years ago, Toni’s five-year-old daughter Evie disappeared after leaving school. The police have never been able to find her. There were no witnesses, no CCTV, no trace.
But Toni believes her daughter is alive. And as she begins to silently piece together her memories, the full story of the past begins to reveal itself, and a devastating truth.
Toni’s mind is trapped in a world of silence, her only chance to save herself is to manage the impossible. She must find a way to make herself heard. She must find her daughter.
My Review
Blink is K.L. Slater’s second psychological thriller and boy is it a good one! This story hooked me right from the beginning. This is one of those books that keeps the reader guessing throughout the story. Just when you think you have it all figured out, the author throws a twist and a turn and you are back to square one again.
The book is told from several points of view including Toni, Evie’s mother, Evie, and Evie’s teacher, Harriet Watson.
The story is mainly told through the eyes of Toni, the mother of little five year old Evie who disappears after school one day. Toni is a recent widow and is struggling to keep both her life and Evie’s together after her husband suddenly and tragically dies. Instead of turning to counseling and therapy to help her through the grieving process she turns to sedatives that had belonged to her husband. She tries to keep her addiction a secret but it begins to spiral out of control. That’s when Evie disappears. I felt bad for Toni, she just needed some help but instead she made one bad decision after another which eventually led to tragedy.
Another point of view the story is told in is that of Evie, the 5 year old who disappears. Evie tries to figure out what is wrong with her mommy and why sometimes she sleeps and can’t be woken up. She also misses her daddy and struggles with starting to attend a new school. The author did a good job telling this through the eyes and thought processes of a 5 year old.
The last point of view is that of the teacher, Harriet Watson. Harriet is a strange duck and pretty cruel and manipulative with those weaker than herself. Ms. Watson is not an easy character to like.
The story takes place in Nottinghamshire. It transitions from present day to three years ago when the disappearance of Evie occurred. The author did a wonderful job holding my interest throughout the book. I felt an impending sense of dread…you knew something was coming it was just a matter of when. This was well worth reading and I would highly recommend this book to everyone who likes a good “keep-you-guessing” psychological thriller. I am now a K.L. Slater fan!!
Thank you K.L. Slater, Bookouture, and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.
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Saturday, February 25, 2017
Book Review: Doll House by John Hunt
Doll House by John HuntBook Details
Publisher: Black Rose Writing, Paperback, 204pages
Publish Date: January 19, 2017
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Source: NetGalley digital edition
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a good one!! The story begins with Olivia getting ready to go off to college. The very day she is dropped off by her dad, she is kidnapped and held prisoner by two very dark, sick, twisted and tortuous men. These men are known to Olivia as Gorilla and Jackal by the masks they wear when they enter her room.
For five years Olivia is held in this same room. It is unreal what she goes through at the hands of these two sickos. The graphic torturing events in the story were hard for me to read. Eventually Olivia is able to escape along with two other girls who also had rooms in this warped “Doll House”.
After Olivia’s escape she returns to live with her father who has become an alcoholic during her years of captivity. I did find myself getting irritated at Olivia’s dad, Harry, when Olivia had to take care of him and his alcohol problem after she had been through so much.
The author takes you through the thoughts, emotions, anxieties, and fears of Olivia’s post-captivity life. Olivia and Harry have so much emotional baggage to carry around after this set of horrific events. They both feel guilty and at times blame themselves for what happened.
The point of view switches throughout the story mostly between Olivia and the Jackal, who by the way was never captured and is still out there somewhere. The best part of the story for me was trying to figure out the identity of the Jackal. The police find out after interviewing all of the girls that the Jackal did things different when it came to Olivia. They believed the Jackal may be someone Olivia knew since he never spoke to her but he did the other girls.
The action rises towards the end…just wait until you find out the identity of the Jackal. Overall this is a great book…I give it 4 stars.
Thank you John Hunt, Black Rose Writing, and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.
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Friday, January 27, 2017
Book Review: Long Time Coming by Robert Goddard
Long Time Coming by Robert GoddardBook Details
Publisher: Bantam Press, Hardcover, 391 pages
Publish Date: February 8, 2010
Genre: Mystery, Adult Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Crime, Historical Fiction
Source: Library Kindle edition; group read at Librarything
Awards: Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original(2011), Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original(2011)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I want to start out by saying this is my first Robert Goddard read and I was totally blown away by this book. The setting switches between 1940 and 1976 in Europe, primarily in London, Belgium, and Ireland. I like to look up facts about places and events mentioned and this book is loaded with those.
The story begins with an old man named Eldritch Swan being released from a prison in Ireland after 36 years. He shows up at the door of the only family he has left, his nephew Stephen and his sister-in-law, Stephen's mother. Stephen Swan had been told his whole life his uncle was killed by the Germans in a London air raid in 1940. So when he shows up alive he wonders what is going on??
Stephen soon finds out he is not going to get many answers from his uncle. As his uncle claims it was part of his prison release that he never disclose why he was imprisoned all those years. Naturally Stephen is leery of his long lost (dead?) Uncle Eldritch.
So through many twists and turns the story goes...trying to find out what really happened to Uncle Eldritch all those years ago and why it still has to be such a secret now. The author did a great job of drawing you in right off the bat and wanting you to keep reading. This was a hard book to put down at night. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone who loves a good mystery mixed with some historical fiction. Overall I rate this book a 5 star *****.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Book Review: The Dollmaker by Mary Burton
The Dollmaker by Mary BurtonBook Details
Publisher: Montlake Romance, Paperback, 342 pages
Publish Date: November 15, 2016
Genres: Mystery, Romantic Suspense, Romance, Suspense, Thriller, Crime
Source: Library
Series: The Forgotten Files
My rating: 5 of 5 starsThe library labeled this book as a romance but it sure didn't read like any romance I want to be a part of. Ha! The book cover gives you a clue that it is pretty creepy. It's one of those books that make you think you hear things outside at night. More than once I got up and turned the outside light on to see if anything was there. So if you are jumpy at night, read this one in the daytime. The bad guy is a real creepazoid. It was sort of easy to figure out the identity of the weirdo but you didn't know for sure until the very end. I got it right for once.
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Thursday, January 19, 2017
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Monday, December 19, 2016
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Monday, November 7, 2016
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Friday, June 3, 2016
Thursday, April 28, 2016
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