Category: Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller Page 117 of 154

NYPD Red 2 (Audiobook) by James Patterson, Marshall Karp, Edoardo Ballerini, Jay Snyder

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On October 14, 2016

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

NYPD Red 2 NYPD Red 2

by James Patterson, Marshall Karp , Edoardo Ballerini (Narrator), Jay Snyder (Narrator)
Series: NYPD Red, #2

Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs, 8 min.
Hachette Audio, 2014

Read: October 6 – 7, 2016


Yeah, I was underwhelmed by NYPD Red, but thought that maybe this series would pick up a little, with everything established in the first. Wow, was I wrong.

This is basically a Dexter retelling — murderers who got off thanks to good lawyers, bad prosecutors, etc being kidnapped, tortured and killed. Before they’re killed, they record a video confession to their crimes, which is uploaded to YouTube shortly after their body is discovered.

Of course, one of the victims is the campaign manager for a mayoral candidate, and the body is discovered 8 days before the election — making the whole investigation a political issue in addition to a pressing crime. Given the prestige and notoriety of the latest victim, the case is bumped up to the NYPD Red team.

From there, it’s pretty much a paint-by-numbers affair — I called the whole thing, even the twists, early on. There’s so little to commend in this book that I can’t think of a positive way to finish this sentence.

I guess I understand why you’d have two narrators for the audiobook — one for the first person detective narration, one for the other perspectives. But I think we’re all smart enough to follow things with just one voice. Both narrators did a decent job, but nothing remarkable. They probably did the best they could with the flat prose and dull dialogue.

Dull, predictable plot with personal side-stories that made me like everyone less. Both authors are capable of such more — I don’t know why they aren’t delivering with this series.

—–

2 Stars

The House of Secrets (Audiobook) by Brad Meltzer, Tod Goldberg, Scott Brick, January LaVoy

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On October 14, 2016

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The House of Secrets The House of Secrets

by Brad Meltzer, Tod Goldberg, Scott Brick (Narrator), January LaVoy(Narrator)

Unabridged Audiobook, 10 hrs, 14 min.
Hachette Audio, 2016
Read: September 22 – 28, 2016


I’ve appreciated the work of Meltzer (comics only, haven’t tried a novel) and Tod Goldberg in the past, so I was intrigued by the idea of them working together, but the book itself just didn’t seem like my cup of tea. Then I heard them interviewed on The Writers Panel podcast and I changed my mind (give it a listen, it’s fun).

Boy was that a mistake. Mostly.

So, the host of a Ripley’s Believe it or Not-esque show all about the crazy conspiracies, hidden stories, and unexplained throughout history is about to retire but is killed in an auto accident. His son and daughter are in the car with him — Junior survives with minor bumps and bruises, Hazel is seriously injured and suffers a traumatic brain injury. She pretty much forgets who she is.

She starts investigating her own background and starts finding questions about her father and his show — there seems to be more than just a TV show afoot. And…yeah, I just can’t care enough to do more than this, I’ve already spent more time on this than I wanted to.

It was a fun, potboiler-y book that was entertaining enough to justify the ten hours — and then the ending, the explanation for everything, and the denouement were horrible. Not just disappointing, but worse. It really made me mad.

I typically like Scott Brick’s narration — but something about the approach he used this time just didn’t work for me. I can’t put my finger on why — maybe it was a bit too aggressive sounding? Like I said, I really don’t know. I did find LaVoy’s work interesting and engaging, however. Maybe it was the contrast between the two that left Brick’s performance wanting (I don’t think so, but it’s a thought that occurs).

As frustrating as I found the story (eventually beyond frustrating), it was an entertaining, gripping book. Structurally sound, moved along at a good pace — everything you want in escapist fiction. But man . . . the ending (and really all of it, therefore, as it is a mystery) was plain ol’ bad. The first 9-ish (maybe 8-ish) hours were good enough that I can’t rate this too low (but man, the ending made me want to).

—–

2 1/2 Stars

Genrenauts: The Complete Season One Collection by Michael R. Underwood

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On October 10, 2016

In Genrenauts, Michael R. Underwood, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, P-U, Science Fiction, Western

Genrenauts: The Complete Season One CollectionGenrenauts: The Complete Season One Collection

by Michael R. Underwood
Series: Genrenauts, #1-6

Kindle Edition, 544 pg.
2016


Parallel to our world are various worlds populated by fictional characters in a wide variety of genres (Western, SF, Romance, etc), and when things go wrong in the stories, things go wrong in our world. For example, broken Romance world stories = higher divorce rates here. In this world, there are a number of teams of story specialists who shift to the other worlds to fix the stories and set things back on course here. Leah Tang — a struggling stand-up comic by night, struggling receptionist by day — is the newest recruit. Join her as she learns the ropes, rights wrongs, struggles with ethics, and gets shot at while cracking jokes.

Originally printed as 6 episodes in 5 novellas, now collected in one season-long omnibus, Genrenauats as become one of my favorite series this year and I’m glad to get one more chance to talk about it with the release of the collection this week.

There’s a great cast of characters here, all of which deserve the reader’s time and focus. For example, I was tempted to not-really-ignore, but relegate Angstrom King to back burner status in my mind. He’s the leader, he points the team in a direction, but the real excitement’s with the rest. This was a mistake on my part — think of him like Capt. Picard. Sure, for the most part he sits around in his ready room with some Earl Gray (hot) — but really, some of the more interesting things that happen in he series are because of his actions. King’s not Jean-Luc, but there’s a similar quality.

I love a good team — fiction, TV, comics, you name it — the interaction, the teamwork, the dynamics, there’s really nothing like it. There’s a great team in these novellas — some of the intra-team camaraderie got pushed aside for a little romance that doesn’t really work for me (but I get why it would for others and appreciate the way Underwood’s tackling it). Overall, it’s built on solid interactions and relationships that have plenty of room to grow and develop over the many seasons that we hopefully get of this.

Each adventure gives Underwood an opportunity to talk about various genres — to talk about the clichés, tropes, archetypes, pluses, minuses, and so on of each genre. And one visit to each won’t be enough to fully explore these. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not talking Master’s Theses-esque discussion, he jokes about them, plays with them, sometimes turns them upside down while telling his tale.

The collection includes:
The Shootout Solution — We meet Leah Tang, Angstrom King and the rest of his team. We’re also introduced to the concept of Genrenauts, Story Worlds, the effects that they can have on our world — also, we get a pretty decent story in Western World. Not bad for 148 pages. (For more details, you might want to read my original blog post, my blog post about the audiobook)

The Absconded Ambassador — The team goes to Science Fiction World to help out on a DS9-like Space Station. On the verge of a major treaty being finalized and signed, the Terran ambassador has been kidnapped. It’s up to King and co. to rescue the ambassador and keep the shaky alliance from crumbling in her absence. We learn a little more about everyone, and while having a lot of fun with genre conventions. ( my original blog post, my blog post about the audiobook)

The Cupid Reconciliation — The team gets back up to full strength in time to go rescue a Rom-Com gone awry. Underwood really lets things fly when it comes to observations about the genre and playing with conventions while using them for comedic — and narrative — value. Also — a couple of seeds that were planted in the first two novellas are watered enough that you can see season/season-plus story arcs beginning to grow. The series took a big jump in quality here. ( my original blog post)

The Substitute Sleuth — A Police Procedural needs some help, a no-nonsense cop’s off-the wall/out-of-the-box partner takes a bullet and another pair of mismatched detectives needs to come in and close the case. We get some major backstory stuff here, and the season arc is moved along nicely. The detective story itself isn’t my favorite, but what Underwood does with the tropes, themes, conventions, etc. is really good — it is more of a TV detective story than a novel detective story. Think Castle, not Harry Bosch (whoops, thanks Amazon, you ruined that point…). ( my original blog post)

The Failed Fellowship (Part 1 & 2) — This think kicks off with Leah Tang ranting about fantasy fiction and 5 episodes later, she gets to spend 2 episodes in Fantasy World, where a Chosen One with a Magic Artifact story has fallen to pieces. Leah’s in hog heaven, the rest of the team are at the top of their game and Underwood is, too. Rollicking good adventure. Best of the batch in every way. ( my original blog post)

I dig this series, and having all of the novellas in one handy collection is going to make it easier (I hope) for others to discover it — the collection is also a little cheaper than buying all the individual stories, which will also going to make things easier for people to discover it. If you haven’t dipped your toe in this world/these worlds yet, what are you waiting for?

—–

5 Stars

The Murders at Astaire Castle (Audiobook) by Lauren Carr, Dan Lawson

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On October 6, 2016

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Now for the last post on The Murders at Astaire Castle (Audiobook) book tour.
—

The Murders at Astaire Castle (Audiobook)

by Lauren Carr,Dan Lawson(Narrator)

Series: The Mac Faraday Mysteries, #5

Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs, 9 min.
Acorn Book Services, 2014

Read: September 7 – 9, 2016

So Mac Faraday stumbles onto a haunted castle where one of his favorite authors was murdered — as were many others — that he just happens to own. Shortly after him finding it, more people are murdered. Just what this retired (and seemingly bored) detective needs: a complicated mystery to sink his teeth into.

The investigation brings up a lot of memories for the locals — most particularly, his half-brother, the Police Chief. The two of them dive into investigating the murder cases both cold and red-hot. There’s some good banter, some shamefully wasted cognac, a lot of antics from Mac’s German Shepherd, and more twists and turns than your typical small-town murder brings along.

With murders that are this old, a lot of old memories are dredged up, so for the locals, this is a pretty messy case. Old scars, old enemies, old heart-breaks are brought back to the surface and examined.

The killer is pretty clever — a little hard to believe, but since when aren’t they? The solution was as obvious as it was outlandish — but the trick is in the telling of the story, not in how reality-based it was. On that score, Carr did a capable job.

There were infodumps galore in the opening chapters — mostly thinly disguised as dialogue. It’s like one of the squints from Bones or the non-Beckett detectives from Castle dropped in. The recall the hotel manager, security chief, etc. had for the murders that happened over a decade ago was pretty clear and accurate. It’s also surprising how little Mac knew about the murder of an author he seemed to be so into (seriously, if Steven King was murdered in a horrible fashion — who wouldn’t know something about that?)

Lawson gave us a competent narration, with odd inflections from time to time, like a NaturallySpeaking voice. The way he pronounced it made me very unclear what Mac’s girlfriend’s name was until I could get online and look it up.

I’m not doing a great job selling this thing — because it’s hard not to spoil anything while talking about this book’s strengths — they are there. The characters are likeable, the puzzle is good (and Carr doesn’t cheat with the clues). It wasn’t the best thing I ever read, but it was entertaining enough to stay with it — an enjoyable book to keep your mind occupied while working out, doing data entry, etc. And then somewhere around the 7:45 minute mark, things fells apart for me. That last chapter just about ruined the whole thing for me. Then, the epilogue answered a big remaining question, but it was one that I’d figured out in Chapter 2 or 3 — and I think most readers would’ve, too. Getting it “revealed” like that just annoyed me. Still, it seems like this one was enough of a divergent from Carr’s typical mystery — if so, the things that were the weakest parts of this book would probably not be around in the others, which would lead me to think they’d be worth a shot. Mystery fans should take a chance on this series — even this installment.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion and participation in this tour.

—–

3 Stars

A Few Quick Questions With…Lauren Carr

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On October 6, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

So, for the second post on The Murders at Astaire Castle (Audiobook) book tour, we got a few questions with the author, Lauren Carr. This has the distinction of featuring the most poorly-worded question I’ve asked here — I’m pretty embarassed by that. But, “Always Forward,” right? As usual, I kept it short and sweet, because I’d rather she work on her next book than take too much time with me.

So, I realize The Murders at Astaire Castle is written to be accessible to new readers, but what would be useful to new readers to know before picking it up?
The Murders at Astaire Castle is a murder mystery with a touch of paranormal. It is not a paranormal book with a murder mystery. The mystery is at the forefront of plot.
There’s a hint of the supernatural running through this book — is this typical for your work/this series? If not, what led you to the choice?
For The Murders at Astaire Castle, I wanted to do a Halloween mystery. What better than a haunted house—or better yet a castle? Of course, you needed a murder mystery. Then, I asked, who would be the victim? Who else but a paranormal author.

Halloween has always been a fun time. It’s the time to break out and be someone else. As a child, I would pretend to be one of the Bobbsey Twins searching for clues to lead me to a secret treasure. If I was lucky, it was made up of chocolate. As a teenager, I was Nancy Drew. Always, when October rolled around, I craved mysteries with something extra added—something beyond the normal—something supernatural.

But I wasn’t looking to do a paranormal book. I am a murder mystery writer and I love murder mysteries. So, it had to be a murder mystery with a supernatural touch.

The Murders at Astaire Castle has a touch of everything. We have the dark and spooky castle with rumors of a curse. We have hidden passage ways. Things happening that defy a logical explanation. We even have a wolf man! And it’s not Gnarly.
What’s the one (or two) book/movie/show in the last 5 years that made you say, “I wish I’d written that.”?
Now You See Me. The twists and turns in this movie left me breathless. I saw none of it coming.
Is there a genre that you particularly enjoy reading, but could never write? Or are you primarily a mystery/suspense/thriller reader?
I am primarily a murder mystery writer and reader. I always have been and I love murder mysteries. When I was a child reading the Bobbsey Twins, I would turn the mystery of the missing sea shell into a kidnapping story.
This many books into a series, is it easier or more difficult to keep going? What challenges are you finding doing this that you didn’t expect?
So far, the difficulty is in keeping up with the directions that the characters themselves want to go. I am always one book ahead in my mind. So, while writing a book, I have a very good idea what direction that I will be taking my characters further down the road.

For example, right now I am writing A Fine Year for Murder, the next Thorny Rose Mystery. Mac Faraday and the Spencer gang make an appearance in this mystery. Keeping in mind my plot for the next Mac Faraday Mystery, I am able to plant seeds for Bonding with Murder and even the Mac Faraday mystery that will be following that. These dropping aren’t necessary clues—rather, they are Easter eggs that will make faithful readers go, “Ahh, I remember Mac saying something about that back in A Fine Year for Murder.”

The biggest challenge, I have found is characters. I fight to keep my characters interesting and even diverse. There are characters in my books who everyone loves. But then, sometimes I will introduce a new character who I find unique and different who some readers object to. This happened with Cameron Gates in the Lovers in Crime mysteries. Some readers loved her. Others didn’t. The same thing is happening now with Dallas Walker in the Mac Faraday mysteries. She appears to be a love her or hate her character with nothing in between.

Which goes to prove the fact of life—you can’t make everyone love you.
Thanks for your time and the opportunity to read (well, listen to) this book.

The Murders at Astaire Castle (Audiobook) by Lauren Carr, Dan Lawson Book Tour

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On October 6, 2016

In Book Tour, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Science Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Welcome to our Book Tour stop for The Murders at Astaire Castle (Audiobook). Along with this blurb about the book I’ve got a Q & A with the author, Lauren Carr and my 2¢ about the book coming up (the links will work when the posts go live).

Book Details:

Book Title:  The Murders at Astaire Castle by Lauren Carr
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date:  September 5, 2014
Genre: Mystery / Crime

Book Description:

Never tell Mac Faraday not to do something.

Spencer’s police chief, David O’Callaghan, learns this lesson the hard way when he orders Mac Faraday to stay away from the south end of Spencer’s mountaintop – even though he owns the property. It doesn’t take long for Mac to find out what lies on the other side of the stone wall and locked gate, on which hangs a sign warning visitors to Keep Out!

Topping the list of the 10 top haunted places in America, Astaire Castle is associated with two suicides, three mysterious disappearances, and four murders since it was built almost a century ago – and Mac Faraday owns it!

In spite of David’s warning, Mac can’t resist unlocking the gate to see the castle that supposedly hasn’t seen a living soul since his late mother had ordered it closed up after the double homicide and disappearance of Damian Wagner, a world-famous master of horror novels.

What starts out as a quick tour of a dusty old castle turns into another Mac Faraday adventure when Astaire Castle becomes the scene of even more murders. Mac is going to need to put all of his investigative talents to work to sort out this case that involves the strangest characters he has run into yet – including a wolf man. No, we’re not talking about Gnarly.

Buy the Book

Amazon ~ Audible

Meet the Author:

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries. The twelfth installment in the Mac Faraday Mystery series, Candidate for Murder will be released June 2016.Lauren Carr Photo

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the real Gnarly) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
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Pub Day Repost: The Purloined Poodle by Kevin Hearne

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On September 30, 2016

In F-J, Fiction, Iron Druid Chronicles, Kevin Hearne, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Purloined PoodleThe Purloined Poodle

by Kevin Hearne
Series: Iron Druid Chronicles, #8.5/Oberon’s Meaty Mysteries, #1

eARC, 112 pg.
Subterranean Press, 2016

Read: August 8, 2016


The best and most consistent part of The Iron Druid Chronicles has been Atticus’ Irish Wolfhound, Oberon. Now Kevin Hearne has given us a novella narrated by and starring him, with Atticus in the supporting role. It’s good that he kept the Druid around, because he has the whole opposable thumb thing going for him and can do things like communicate with other people

While playing in a dog park, Oberon stumbles upon a rash of dognappings — the victims are all Grand Champions. Oberon is appalled that such a thing can happen and vows to find the dogs and return them home. He enlists Atticus to assist him (and well, to do most of the work). They spend the next couple of days moving around the country visiting various dog trainers/owners and skirting trouble with the law. While Atticus does the heavy lifting of investigating, Oberon has a lot of fun meeting various Champion dogs — in particular, a Boston terrier named Starbuck.

The interplay between Atticus and Oberon is a lot of fun, but his narration is even better — between the repeated mentions of trying to pull off “the Full Jules” (reciting Ezekiel 25:17 at just the right moment); his summary/slash review of The Great Gatsby (which will forever alter the way I look at the book); Oberon as food critic (his takes on coffee and mustard are highlights); and a repeated tribute to Denis Leary’s best movie, this book was flat-out entertaining. Because it’s by Hearne and featuring Oberon, I assumed I’d enjoy it — I didn’t plan on (but should’ve) cackling by the 7% mark.

I thoroughly enjoyed this — the story was good enough to justify the time reading, but Oberon’s voice elevates this to something really special. It is now one of my major Life Goals to hear Luke Daniels do the audiobook of this. If you’ve read an Iron Druid Chronicle or two, you’ll know how good Oberon can be. Read this, you won’t be disappointed.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Subterranean Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post — thanks to both for this.
N.B.: As this was an ARC, any quotations above may be changed in the published work — I will endeavor to verify them as soon as possible.

—–

4 Stars

Catch & Neutralize by Chris Grams

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On September 20, 2016

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Catch & NeutralizeCatch & Neutralize

by Chris Grams

Kindle Edition, 335 pg.
2016

Read: September 5 – 6, 2016


Before I get into this novel, let me tell you a little about my process: After deciding to read a book, I tend to forget what it’s about rightaway — if for no other reason than I’m too frequently tempted to predict what the book’ll be like. So when it comes to series and/or author’s I like, all I need to know is “Oh, a new Faith Hunter book is out!” or “Ahhh, a Jonathan Tropper that I haven’t read — sweet!” That’s all I need. Similarly, when it’s a book by someone new, or a new series — or when an author (case in point) asks me to read their new book — once I’ve decided I’m down for it, I’ll let the details slide, so I’m fresh for the book.

So when I opened this one (see, there’s a link) and read the first few chapters, I kept asking myself “I said ‘yes’ to this?” Not because it was bad — it wasn’t — it’s just not the kind of book that I’d normally read. A little later, I went to log that I’d started the book in Goodreads and read the blurb there — I didn’t recognize it as the book I was reading. A chapter or two later, it was exactly what the blurb said. And that’s both good and bad. Let’s see if I can explain my point.

In the first few chapters we meet Mark — a super-smart geneticist who’s also (for good reason) super-jealous. He’s pretty sure his wife is having an affair (as is the reader), and he’s understandably upset. He takes a few steps that most husbands don’t — but most husbands don’t have his apparent personal budget or friends in the right fields. He also happens to meet a willing accomplice — perhaps too willing, as she’s young, pretty and talented, and a little tempting for a guy who’s pretty sure his marriage is on the rocks. But whatever — now, at this point, I’m interested, invested — I’m rooting for Mark (at least a little), and really hoping he doesn’t end up killing his wife or something similarly stupid/misguided.

Insert the sound of a needle scratch, because we’re done with Mark at this point — without warning or anything, and we meet Angie (Mark’s wife) and Tiffany, and a little creep of a waiter. We learn at this point that Angie’s been faithful, is actually ga-ga over Mark and the actions that have led him to his horrible conclusion are actually her working for a vigilante group that takes down criminals who’ve gotten away with crimes against women and children. It turns out that Tiffany is, too — but she might be playing a little fast and loose with the organization’s rules. There’s a strange combination of play and danger in the interactions between Angie and Tiffany — it’s pretty fun as long as you think of them as fictional characters. If you think of them as real people, it’s just scary.

And that feeling gets so much worse once Tiffany and Angie get their hands on a couple of rapists and pedophiles. This is also where things between the two women go off the rails. It’s not long after this that Mark comes back into the picture — and the book changes again. It was Book A with Mark’s chapters, it becomes an entirely different book (B) in the Angie and Tiffany focus (the one that matches the Goodreads/Amazon/Gram website blurb — and was the kind of book I’d normally be interested in) and then becomes Book C after Mark shows up (and maybe becomes D a little later). Where most authors would’ve intertwined A and B, so that C flows from them; this is almost like changing the channels on TV between the three. I’m not saying it’s good or bad — it’s jarring and unexpected, but maybe that’s what Grams was going for — it actually kinda works. But man, it made for odd transitions. Along this lines, the dénouement has the feel of an entirely different book, too — something like the overly-cheery final scene in a 80’s cop drama.

Now, there’s some tense gunfighting scenes, some torture, some double-crossing, and a whole lot of questions that aren’t answered. Each of the books I mentioned above are pretty well-written and grabbing, if somewhat disturbing — it’s just bringing them together that didn’t work for me. The characters are well-constructed — sure they might act in ways that are hard to understand sometimes, occasionally in near-insane ways — the reader will be drawn-in and compelled to keep going with these people.

Oh, and the little creep of a waiter? Yeah, he turns out to be worse than initially thought (and, I promise you, his first impression is a bad one), and well, things really don't go his way.

This is definitely written like it could kick-off a series, and if that's the case, I'm very interested in what comes next, if for no other reasons than so I can see if Grams can pull it off. But mostly, because I'd like to see what comes next

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for my honest opinion — I hope she doesn’t regret that too much, especially since I let our agreed upon posting date pass without a word. Ms. Grams, you’re a class act. Thanks.

—–

3 Stars

Shadowed by Karen E. Olson

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On September 15, 2016

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

ShadowedShadowed

by Karen E. Olson
Series:Nicole Jones, #2

Hardcover, 220 pg.
Severn House Publishers, 2016

Read: August 19 – 20, 2016


When we last saw Nicole Jones, she was running away from the new life she’d built for herself — the job, home, friends — rattled by the presence of the FBI and the criminals from her past. The idyll was gone, and her life and freedom depended on her making a break for it. So, she headed for the border and the Great White North beyond.

She tried to convince herself that her next home, next identity, would be as long-lasting (at least) as her previous. But she knew better, deep down — and the readers did, too. Not just because it’s a sequel, but now that everyone knows that she’s out there, they’ll look harder. So Nicole has to be ready to run again, and she does so when the time is right. Which leads her to new risks and dangers, as well as to a greater understanding of what happened in her early criminal career to set her on this path.

There were a couple of times I thought Nicole was too trusting, too willing to not be suspicious. She really made some bad moves there. But honestly, I’m not sure she was in a position to do much else. Shadowed was, on the whole, a lot less realistic-feeling than Hidden, but oh well — it may not have been full of verisimilitude, but it followed the rules that Olson laid out before, and it was entertaining enough that you got over that.

I saw a few of the twists coming (or at least something that looked like them), and by a certain point I had 97.3% of the rest of the book worked out to an uncanny accuracy. That other 2.7? Totally blindsided me. More importantly — the stuff that I’d guessed, the stuff that I hadn’t (and couldn’t), and everything else was written in an engaging, entertaining and controlled fashion. I’ve read too many crime novels lately that seemed chaotic from time to time, where things happen because the author wanted them to, whether or not it fit the story — this one wasn’t anything like that. Olson knows what she’s doing, and you can tell that throughout.

This didn’t wow me the way that Hidden did, but I liked the world — I still really like Nicole — it hooked me almost from the get-go, and definitely left me wanting to know what’s next. Olson continues to impress and satisfy.

—–

3 Stars

The Corruption of Chastity by Frank Westworth

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On September 14, 2016

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Corruption of ChastityThe Corruption of Chastity

by Frank Westworth
Series: Killing Sisters, #2

ePub, 352 pg.
The Book Guild, 2015

Read: August 3 – 5, 2016


I’ve put off writing this one for far too long, mostly because I’m torn and I’m not sure what to say.

First, this is the second in a series and I spent a little too long at the beginning trying to get my bearings. I got there with a little work, but the new reader has to wade through a lot to suss out the events of Book One. This is not necessarily a bad thing — just a warning for others new to the series.

This book has some pretty high highs, and a really low low.

The big high is in the suspense/espionage-like material. Chastity (and her sisters) are top-notch assassins — although, it could be argued that Chastity has done this sort of thing a few too many times, and she’s the worse for it. She’s gotten herself in a tight-spot, and Stoner the burned British agent (or whatever he technically is), is hired to get her out of it. Doing so yanks him out of his retirement (living the life of a musician on a cruise-ship) and plunges him into a chase through Europe to find out who has Chastity in their sights and to stop them.

Most of the characters are doozies, strong voices, strong perspectives, troubling violent tendencies (well, troubling to most people — but just what’s needed for their situations). Not just Chastity and Stoner — but the wide variety of spooks, criminals, military types and blues musicians we run into along the way.

There’s enough twists and turns to keep the reader (and Stoner) guessing and on their toes. I wasn’t crazy about one of the subplots but most of that probably comes from me not knowing the players before.

There’s a torture scene that is truly disturbing (and I didn’t buy the foundation for it), incidentally. The violence outside of that as pretty graphic, but (mostly) nothing too much for those who’d read this genre anyway. That’s neither a high or a low, just an observation I think I should make.

The low? It’s the sex. There’s a whole lot of it — probably too much. Not just that, but it’s described in too much detail. Give these people some privacy, will you? Even that is excusable — but man — it’s just poorly written. “Poorly,” might be pulling my punch — it’s just bad. These sex scenes are the kind of thing that makes Tom Wolfe’s “Bad Sex in Fiction” award-winning (and nominated) books look erotic.

Outside of the bedroom, Westworth can write — he knows how to keep things moving, how to zig when the reader’s expecting a zag (or how to execute a zag so well, that you don’t care it’s what you expected). When we get the character moments, the action/suspense stuff — even the talk about music — this book is so good, it’s right up there with Finder, Child, and Sharp. And that ending? I really want to see what Stoner does next. I just hope he keeps it in his pants (ditto for everyone else).

Disclaimer: I received this from the author in exchange for my honest take on his book — I wish my thoughts were a bit more coherent, and were timelier, but I really appreciated the book.

—–

3.5 Stars

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