Category: Fiction Page 253 of 341

The Chemist by Alan J. Field

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On November 11, 2016

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

The ChemistThe Chemist

by Alan J. Field

Kindle Edition, 340 pg.
ThrillRide Media, 2016

Read: November 8 – 10, 2016

I don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about this — mostly because I just don’t care, but also because this is going to fall into the “if you can’t say something nice” category — but I told the author I’d say something, so here goes.

This is a dull, poorly written, cliché-filled, convoluted thriller that forgot the thrills. You have a mustache-twirling terrorist (atheistic, but willing to pretend to get what he wants); a couple of mustache-twirling CIA honchos (willing to sell out the Bill of Rights, CIA charter, and anything else to get the “bad guys”); a cosmetics executive that decides to try to sell chemical weapons; a drug-addicted chemist able to be a genius and do something no one’s done before while hallucinating; a CIA op-turned addictions counselor/vigilante; and a few other assorted mustache-twirlers, criminals with hearts of gold, and assorted special-ops types.

Danny Strong (yes, a bit of Buffy-fan pandering), is called out of retirement to help save the world — because he’s the only one who can. He needs to convince a hot young chemist to give him the most deadly toxin ever created to him before it’s sold on the black market in an effort to save her mother’s cosmetics company. Oh, and the chemist does enough coke and heroin to kill a middle school’s worth of kids — yet she does something no one else can duplicate. There are multiple conspiracies afoot here — some never explained well — but that’s the core story. Naturally, he falls for her (in something like 10 days) and is able to finally free himself from grieving over his murdered wife.

There’s a misguided, but probably well-intentioned, Castle tribute here that just annoyed the tar out of me (and I’ve watched every episode at least once, so I’m not complaining about a Castle tribute — I just hope Fillion, Katic, etc. don’t read this novel).

There are so many storylines and details that go nowhere and mean nothing, so many plot points that just don’t work, inconsistent narration, scenes that are impossible to follow (and not just because the book desperately needs a couple of copy edits, see below) that transform this book from a bore to a bad novel.

Now, I know when you self-publish a book, there’s going to be more typos and whatnot in it than your typical book (or, at least, there are bound to be) — but even stuff put out by the Big 5 contains errors that cause copy editors to lose sleep, so I generally don’t hold that against a book. But this was just ridden with spelling and grammatical mistakes — any drinking game invented along the lines of tracking them would leave me unable to write for a week. Repeated sentences/paragraphs, many homonyms (e.g., “hear” instead of “here”), wrong pronouns, sentences that aren’t really anything, simple misspellings, and more. Too often I’d have to stop what I was reading and spend time examining a paragraph/section for a while to see if I could suss out the meaning. Now, I have no problem doing that when something is beautiful or thought-provoking — but when it’s not worth it? No.

I didn’t actively hate this book — but man, there’s just nothing to say to recommend it.

Disclaimer: This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for my honest opinion — he clearly didn’t bribe me. I thank him for the opportunity,

—–

2 Stars

Reservations by Richard Paolinelli

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On November 11, 2016

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

Reservations Reservations

by Richard Paolinelli
Series: Jack Del Rio, #1

Kindle Edition, 252 pg.
W & B Publishers Inc, 2016

Read: October 31, 2016


So, the President of the Navajo Nation, Ben Yazzie, isn’t ending the year/beginning the second year in office the way he wanted: three members of the tribal council have died under what can only be charitably called suspicious circumstances. He’s pretty convinced that he’s next on the list, so he calls in the cavalry (forgive the reference) via an old friend in the FBI. The old friend assigns a hot-shot young agent with a knack for saving heads of state, Jack Del Rio.

Del Rio is paired up with a reservation police officer, Lucy Chee. The two of them click almost immediately on a professional level and progress through the tangled political, personal and historical web that surrounds these murders. I enjoyed their teamwork, their banter and friendship. I liked almost every character — even the ones we only met for a scene. I could’ve used a little more time with Yazzie, honestly — although I’m not sure there was room for it. Chee and Del Rio, of course, I liked the best — they were very well-developed and interesting.

I had a few problems with the book — Paolinelli could trust his readers a bit more, his character’s jokes would land better if he didn’t go out of his way to make sure we knew they were jokes. The prose could be a leaner, just a touch, but he doesn’t need to use quite as many words as he does (see the joke observation). I think his pacing could be better — he spends too much time establishing the mystery and Del Rio independently at the beginning of the novel — 1 chapter there, 1 chapter here — it takes no time to figure out that Del Rio’s going to be called in to investigate things (even without reading the book’s blurb), and then I just got impatient with the intervening material until he actually hops on a plane. I’m sure Paolinelli had his reasons for it, I just don’t think it worked as well as he may have wished.

Between just listening to Hearne’s Tricked and being knee-deep in the latest season of Longmire, I was primed for this story about the Diné and reservation politics — and Paolinelli nailed it. At least it seems like he did to someone who’s contact with both is from a a decent share of fiction over the years, so pick the size of your salt grain to take with that. But the mix of Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, US cultures was well-balanced and fun.

Great final confrontation between our heroes and the villain — I can’t tell you all the reasons I liked it without ruining it, but for people who like thrillers/detective novels, I can assure you that there’s more than enough reasons to like it.

The second Del Rio novel, Betrayals is out now, and I look forward to getting it. But we’re talking about Reservations now, and I give this a solid recommendation for fans of the genre or non-fans wanting something different.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinions — and I really appreciate it.

—–

3.5 Stars

The Breedling and The City in the Garden by Kimberlee Ann Bastian

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On November 9, 2016

In Book Tour, Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Now for the last post on The Breedling and The City in the Garden book tour.
—

The Breedling and The City in the GardenThe Breedling and The City in the Garden

by Kimberlee Ann Bastian
Series: The Element Odysseys, Book 1

Kindle Edition, 280 pg.
Wise Ink Creative Publishing , 2016

Read: October 24 – 25, 2016

The immortal soulcatcher Bartholomew (soon to be known as Buck) comes to 1930’s Chicago to track down someone and repay a debt. He comes looking like a young teen and is taken under the wing of a homeless orphan who seems to be a year or two older. The two have to deal with challenges and obstacles both mundane and other-worldly to survive, much less complete.

I’m not really sure how to describe the book beyond that, quite honestly. Maybe go back and check the main Book Tour post for a better description.

This book is all about what you think about Buck — and Charlie, to a lesser extent. Buck/Bartholomew has an eccentricity, a naivety that can make him endearing, ditto for Charlie’s street-smarts coated with his tough (yet tender) exterior. Better yet, if you find yourself invested in their friendship’s ups and downs. If you like these two, are interested in what happens to them, pretty much every problem with the book can be ignored. I wanted more from both of those characters, and I’m not sure I can ignore the problems with the book just because to them. Still, I can see where many people would love these two and find my issues shallow.

There are some real problems with this — for example, it’s hard to tell just how much of Bastian’s world is “our” world and how much is her mythology. Which might not make much sense, so let me try to explain: there are priests (I assume, Roman Catholic), but it’s hard to tell if that worldview is true/a true world here; Eden means one thing to Roman Catholics, but pretty much it seems to indicate the mortal world in this book. Also, too often I think Bastian goes for mysterious or suspenseful and ends up being vague, opaque or ambiguous. She’s done some great world-building here, I’m just not convinced that she’s great at explaining that world to the reader.

Technically there was a narrative arc to this novel, with an actual ending and a place to jump off to the next novel. But only technically, this is part of a story at best, the first installment in a series that really just serves to propel the reader for the forthcoming book. There’s some odd vocabulary sprinkled through the narrative occasionally — its one thing for Bucks/Bartholomew to have antique words and phraseology due to his origin, but for the narrative to throw those in every now and then it just doesn’t work it’s jarring, drawing attention to it self

There’s an earnestness to the writing, a clear effort on Bastian’s part, and you want to root for her and her creation — I’m not entirely certain she succeeds with this book, but man, you want her to. Those who like steampunk, but aren’t tied to the tech; those who don’t mind mixing fantasy with history; and/or those who like seeing children/child-sized characters in life-or=death situations, this could work for you.

—–

3 Stars

A Few Quick Questions With…Kimberlee Ann Bastian

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On November 9, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Book Tour, Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

So, for the second post on The Breedling and The City in the Garden book tour, we got a few questions with the author, Kimberlee Ann Bastian. 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.

I see that this is being billed as a “reboot” of the novel — what does that mean for you and the book?
All it really means is that my first attempt was a dress rehearsal. I learned a great deal of what not to do when self-publishing and really it boils down to not cutting corners where your book is concerned. Not that I meant to cut corners. I just didn’t have the proper funds. You’re either all in or you’re not and though my first intentions were good and I had the drive, it wasn’t quite what I imaged it would be. Now, with the brilliant team at Wise Ink Creative Publishing, I have an extraordinary team to work with and all the tools an indie author needs to realize his or her vision. The Breedling and the City in the Garden is now, after eight years of trial and error, the way it was always meant to be with all the professional bells and whistles included.
Most authors have dozens of ideas bouncing around their craniums at once — what was it about this idea that made you say, “Yup — this is the one for me.”?
The idea for the Element Odysseys came to me at a time when I actually had no other ideas running through my head. I put all my energies into the concept and it really helped me write my way out of a trialing situation and once I started, I couldn’t stop.
What kind of research — if any — did you have to do for this? Uncover any nuggets that were so great that you had to rework the story just to fit some of your research into things?
The research journey for this book and for the series in its entirety has been fascinating. I have tapped into every vital online database, read countless books and articles. Watched a few documentaries and I went above and beyond the scope of what has made it into the final version of the story. I have even visited the sites of Chicago where the story takes place, or what’s left of them. For The Breedling and the City in the Garden, the greatest historical nugget I found came during my second round of editing when I was working on changing the title. I came across the Great Seal of Chicago, which on the seal the Latin phrase Urbs In Horto is present. Upon learning the translation Garden City or City in the Garden, I knew I had to reference it in the story and ultimately it became the second half of the title.

Who are some of your major influences? (whether or not you think those influences can be seen in your work — you know they’re there)
I think for this first book I pulled a great deal of inspiration from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, Irene Hunt’s No Promises in the Wind and Mark Twain when creating the historic feel of the story. For the mythology elements of the story, I did draw a little from HBO’s Carnivale in how to blend the historical with the fantastical. Although for those familiar with the series, I’m not nearly as abstract. Subconsciously, I probably took some inspiration from Harry Potter as well, for I have already been told the opening chapter is reminiscent of Dumbledore and McGonagall in the beginning of The Sorcerer’s Stone (The Philosopher’s Stone).
What’s the one (or two) book/movie/show in the last 5 years that made you say, “I wish I’d written that.”?
This is the hardest question by far—haha. (pauses to contemplate) In the book category, I’d have to say Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus. I’m also going to go a little rogue and choose a musical, Lin Manuel-Miranda’s Hamilton: An American Musical, it is my current obsession.

Thank you kindly for letting me swing by The Irresponsible Reader, H. C. It has been a blast chatting with you! Happy Reading.
Thanks for your time, Ms. Bastian, I wish you and the release the best.

The Breedling and The City in the Garden by Kimberlee Ann Bastian Book Tour

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On November 9, 2016

In Book Tour, Fiction

Welcome to our Book Tour stop for The Breedling and The City in the Garden. Along with this blurb about the book I’ve got a Q & A with the author, Kimberlee Ann Bastian and my 2¢ about the book coming up (the links will work when the posts go live).

Book Details:

Book Title:  The Breedling and The City in the Garden (The Element Odysseys Book 1) by Kimberlee Ann Bastian
Category: YA fiction, is also intended for Adult (18+) readers
Length: 280 pages
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Publisher: Wise Ink Creative Publishing
Release date: September 20, 2016

Content Rating: PG-13 This book is rated PG-13 for time period slag (no F*words), violence and mature themes associated with the historic time period such as smoking, drinking, gambling, and death (no sexual scenes).

Book Description:

Absolute obedience, servitude, neutrality.

These were the laws that once governed Bartholomew, an immortal soulcatcher, until one ill-fated night when he was forced to make a choice: rebel against his masters or reveal an ancient, dangerous secret.

He chose defiance.

Imprisoned for centuries as punishment for his decision, Bartholomew wastes away—until he creates an opportunity to escape. By a stroke of chance, Bartholomew finds himself in the human world and soon learns that breaking his bonds does not come without a price. Cut off from the grace that once ruled him, he must discover a new magic in 1930s Chicago.

Armed with only a cryptic message to give him direction, Bartholomew desperately tries to resume the mission he had started so long ago. Relying on the unlikely guidance of the streetwise orphan Charlie Reese, Bartholomew must navigate the depressed streets of the City in the Garden. But in order to solve this riddle, he must first discover if choice and fate are one in the same.

Buy the Book

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Author’s Website

Meet the Author:

Kimberlee Ann Bastian has a unique love affair with American nostalgia, mythology, and endless possibilities. This melting pot of elements is what prompted the creation of her epic ELEMENT ODYSSEYS series, starting with the reboot of her debut novel now titled THE BREEDLING AND THE CITY IN THE GARDEN.

When she is not in her writer’s room, working her current “day job”, or consuming other literary worlds, she enjoys hiking and cycling around the bluffs of your Southeastern MN home and catching up on her favorite pop culture. ​
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Cyber World: Soundtrack of Humanity’s Tomorrow

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On November 8, 2016

In Fiction, Science Fiction

Cyber WorldCyber World: Soundtrack of Humanity’s Tomorrow


Hex Publishers, 2016


I enjoy music, I listen to a lot of it — but I’m no expert, so take this for what it is.

Okay, I’m not technically an expert on the other stuff I write about, but I’m closer to one when it comes to writing than I am music. But at least with books I have an idea how to talk about them, I really don’t know what to say about music — “I give him a 42 but I can’t dance to it!”

There’s a very 80’s-vibe to a lot of this music (a good thing, by and large, in my opinion . The Scandroid songs sound to me like something out of a British synth-pop band. Which may make it less than appealing for some, but it works for me (although some of the lyrics could be more interesting). I did learn what the word “Aphelion” means, though, so there’s that.

The best stuff on the album are the instrumentals — Celldweller’s “Patched in” is great background music — I’ve already been using while writing and reading. Which is not to take anything away from Mega Drive’s two songs — I alternate which of those I like best, but both are getting a lot of play time on my devices.

The three instrumental songs, in particular, do a great job of getting you into the right mood for the kind of stories the book tells — where those with vocals take you back to the era where Cyberpunk was born. So they can also put you in the right frame of mind.

A good companion piece to the anthology, and a fun listen overall. I recommend it.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this album by the publisher, which was going above and beyond. I thank them for this — it was very generous and pretty cool of them.

—–

3 Stars

Cyber World by Jason Heller and Joshua Viola, eds.

By

On November 8, 2016

In Fiction

There’s a soundtrack to this anthology, and I’ll be posting about that tonight — short version: if you like music that shares the same roots as these stories, you should check it out.
—

Cyber WorldCyber World: Tales of Humanity’s Tomorrow

by Jason Heller, Joshua Viola eds.


Kindle Edition, 250 pg.
Hex Publishers, 2016

Read: October 26 – 31, 2016


Heller insists in his Afterword that this is not a collection of Cyberpunk stories, and who am I to doubt him? Although it feels pretty punk to ignore the Editor/The Man. It sure feels like Cyberpunk — but I’m also pretty sure that it doesn’t matter what I call it, as long as I say that it’s good, strong, creative, mind-bending, and occasionally mind-blowing. I can’t summarize this anthology better than Hex Publishers did:

Cybernetics. Neuroscience. Nanotechnology. Genetic engineering. Hacktivism. Transhumanism. The world of tomorrow is already here, and the technological changes we all face have inspired a new wave of stories to address our fears, hopes, dreams, and desires as Homo sapiens evolve—or not—into their next incarnation.

Cyber World is a collection of this new wave of cyber-inspired tales, that should appeal to a wide audience. There’s part of me that wants to write a paragraph or two on each story — well, most of them — but I don’t have the time for that, and I can’t imagine many of you would read it. So I’ll opt for brevity. As I read through this collection, I noticed that my notes had a theme, I’d consistently remark on three aspects of the stories: 1. The Premise/Cyber-Conceit; 2. The Story/Characters; 3. The Language Used/Way of telling the story. Now, this actually sounds like a pretty decent strategy to approaching these, but I’m not clever enough to do that deliberately, apparently. Almost every story here nailed two, if not three, of these aspects.

There was a story that only scored on one front for me, but I’m not going to mention which one, because I know others will strongly disagree with me — I might even disagree in 6 months — so I’m not going to focus on it. Even those stories that didn’t do much for me, I can absolutely see where others would say that they’re a favorite. Usually, when I read a bunch of short stories I don’t see where people would have much appreciation for some of them (I mean, I know tastes vary, but sometimes you just don’t get why people like stuff). Not here — tough to ask for more than that. The writing is on point — lean, terse, quick-moving — with the occasional appropriate exception. There’s something that made me smile about all but one of the stories. The voices are strong and individual — yet pretty much clearly belong together.

I do want to talk about a few of these — sorry, no one really wants to read about how I write these things, but I think this says something. I wrote that fragment, and then took one more look at my notes, trying to find 3 or 4 stories to focus on and I came up with four in a row and stopped myself before things go out of hand. Again, this speaks to the strength of this collection. I still wasn’t able to restrict myself to 4, though:

  • Mario Acevedo’s “Reactions” is maybe too-brief, but a compelling look at remote warfare drugs and the effects of both of those on the brain/soul. Just enough zag to his pretty obvious zig to make this a keeper.
  • “The Rest Between Two Notes” by Cat Rambo contains this line:

    But this is New York City, and there can be traffic jams or terrorist threats or flash plagues to contend with…

    “flash plagues.” I love that concept. There’s just so much — probably a novel if someone wanted it, in those two words. The rest of the story was pretty weird and disturbing, and though provoking on its own, but those two words (for me) sealed it as a favorite.

  • “The Faithful Soldier, Prompted” by Saladin Ahmed reflects the international flavor of this book as well as featuring an odd mishmash of spam emails and religious revelation. Something only Ahmed could probably pull off.
  • “Staunch” by Paul Graham Raven pushed just about every stylistic button for me — mix of bio/technical/cyber/genetic fiction, plus political/economic commentary — and a whole bunch of other stuff — while telling a tight story.
  • “Will Take Care of Our Own” by Angie Hodapp is probably the most accessible, closest to mainstream story in this batch. Which doesn’t stop it from being a great story about politics, with some interesting commentary on contemporary issues — just what SF is supposed to be about — with a good fallible protagonist.
  • Minister Faust’s “The Ibex on the Day of Extinction” felt very different from most of these stories, and I don’t know how to talk about it without spoiling the whole thing, but I wanted to focus on how good it was.
  • “The Singularity Is in Your Hair” by Matthew Kessel — can I use the word “sweet” about one of these? Probably not, but this tale about VR helping a person with a debilitating disease experience more than many people is very close to it.
  • “A Song Transmuted” by Sarah Pinsker just blew me away several times.
  • “It’s Only Words” by Keith Ferrell — is almost a counter-point to the worlds the rest of these take place in — a dash of Thoreau to rebut the rest.
  • “The Bees of Kiribati” by Warren Hammond was just freaking chilling — a police interrogation to a heinous crime, becomes so much more. I want a book in this world, now. Just without the creepy killer (it can have another creepy killer, I just don’t want anything to do with this one again).

Heller (and I read his book Taft 2012 before starting this blog, so you can’t read all the nice things I thought about it at the time) and Viola did a bang up job with this collection. They might not love the label cyberpunk (but someone neglected to tell those who wrote blurbs, or the promotional material I read), and perhaps it’s not the most accurate — but if these stories aren’t Cyberpunk, they’re the result of evolution from Cyberpunk. Cyber World is a direct descendant of Mirrorshades — a couple of these stories could’ve easily been included in that collection (but some require more current cultural/technological input).

Don’t read too many of these in one sitting, it takes away some of the impact — but you’ll have a hard time stopping once you start. One of the best collection of stories I’ve read in forever.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for this post and my honest opinion. I thank them for this.

—–

4 Stars

The Lost Child of Lychford by Paul Cornell

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On November 7, 2016

In Fantasy, Fiction, Paul Cornell, Urban Fantasy

The Lost Child of LychfordThe Lost Child of Lychford

by Paul Cornell
Series: Witches of Lychford, #2

Kindle Edition, 144 pg.
Tor.com, 2016

Read: November 2 – 3, 2016


It’s been a few months since Reverend Lizzie Blackmore, Judith (the elderly witch), and Autumn (now her apprentice and her employer) fought off the supernaturally corrupt megastore (and probably mundanely corrupt, too, come to think of it) and life has moved on in a relatively normal way. The three have forged some sort of alliance — easy for Autumn and Lizzie, already close, but learning new things about each other; not so easy for Judith to be accepted and to accept them, I don’t think. Autumn’s learning from Judith, while getting some help in her shop (which seems like a small town version of Atticus O’Sullivan’s and Alex Verus’ shops combined). Judith’s got something to do, a way to pass on her knowledge, and Lizzie is super-busy with pre-Christmas activities in the church.

But given everything we learned about Lychford, it’s not terribly surprising that things won’t stay that way, it’s just a question of what kind of other-worldly strangeness will come calling first.

In this case, it’s a ghost — or ghost-like apparition — that came to Lizzie at church. A small child looking frightened and worse for wear, with a simple request of: “No hurting.” Now, our trio can’t all agree on what the apparition is, but they can all get behind the idea of “No hurting.” They just have to figure out if that’s something they can stop — and then they’ll worry about the how. Neither piece of that plan works the way that it’s supposed to, but it seems these three are pretty good at improvising. Autumn, in particular, seems particularly adept at that.

I appreciated the fact that each of these women make one significant mistake (and probably some smaller ones) — two that come from inexperience, one that proves that experience doesn’t equal infallibility. They’re all believable, they do more than just advance the plot, they are honest with the characters and situation. Too often in novels you’re left wondering why a protagonist would be so stupid as to do X — when really it comes down to they have to do X or the really cool Y thing can’t happen at the end. That doesn’t happen here — sure, the attentive reader might be able to see the blunder coming around the corner, but there’s no reason to think that our protagonists should until it’s too late. Because while these three are fictional characters, Cornell imbues them with a genuineness, a substantial-ness that’s fitting for a real person (sadly, not always present with them, however).

Man, I had to use DuckDuckGo a lot to get all the cultural details in these pages — I know next to nothing about Anglican Christmas festivities, and less about British Christmas Pop Music. I’m not sure how much I’ll benefit long-term from this research, but it was interesting. I might have been better off not knowing anything about Greg Lake and his song, though.

If there was such a thing as magic, it wouldn’t look like anything from Harry Potter, Harry Dresden or some other fantasy series starring a Harry. It’d look like this, I wager. Quiet; shadowy; right out in the open, yet somehow unseen. All substance, no flash. Oh, yeah, and creepy — can’t forget creepy and inexplicable. Which is pretty much everything that happened in this book — up to and including most of the things the trio does to prevent things from getting really out of hand. It’s hard to talk about realism in a fantasy novel, but Cornell’s one of those that make you do that.

The Witches of Lychford was thoroughly entertaining and did a great job of establishing this world. This novella took full advantage of that to tell a more compelling story. I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to read Witches first, but it’d help a lot. “I Believe in Father Christmas,” notwithstanding, I thought The Lost Child of Lychford lived up to its predecessor and left me eager to return to this little village.

—–

4 Stars

Deceiving Bella by Cate Beauman Book Tour

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On November 4, 2016

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

I’d like to welcome Cate Beauman to our lil’ patch of cyberspace for this tour stop. Her stuff looks good — check it out.

Ethan Cooke Security and their bodyguard team return to action in Deceiving Bella – book eleven in Cate Beauman’s Bodyguards of L.A. County series.

With over 7700 reviews and a 4.4 rating for the entire series, see why the Bodyguards of L.A. County is a multi-award winning series.

Buy It Now!

Amazon | Kobo | Nook | iBooks

New to the series? No problem! Each book in the “Bodyguards” series is a stand-alone title. Although reading the books in order is preferred, it is not necessary. Each title features brand new primary characters and limited overlapping secondary characters. Don’t hesitate to jump right in!

Deceiving BellaIsabella Colby has always yearned for normalcy. Now that she’s settled in LA, she finally has it. Good friends, a pretty home, and her thriving career as the Palisades’ top skincare specialist are a dream come true. Bella is content until she meets her hunky new neighbor, but her attraction to the blue-eyed cutie is the least of her worries when contacting her long-lost father threatens to destroy her happy life.

Reed McKinley is more than ready to forget the past. His seven-year stint as an NYPD detective nearly got him killed. His wounds have healed and he’s starting over as Ethan Cooke Security’s latest recruit. With sixty-hour workweeks and little time to himself, the last thing on his mind is a relationship. Then he bumps into the gorgeous woman next door.

Reed and Bella become fast friends. Before long, Reed discovers that Bella is keeping dangerous secrets. Bella may have the answers to decades-old questions he’s been searching for. Reed will risk it all to uncover the truth, but he soon realizes that the deeper he digs, the direr the consequences.

One Of Cate’s Favorite Fall Desserts:

I don’t know about you but I love the fall. The air turns crisp and the scenery beautiful, but I think what I love most is the new variety of foods we often eat. We put away the grill for the year (or use it less frequently) and utilize our stoves and ovens more. Typically, I try to share healthier recipes but this is one of my favorite sinful treats. Chocolate raspberry bars are pretty easy to make and they’re great to bring to a potluck or tailgating. Whenever we share these, I go home with an empty plate.

Chocolate Raspberry Bars

  • 1 cup of butter, softened (2 sticks)
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
  • Seedless raspberry preserves

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees and grease a 9×13 baking dish.
  2. Combine softened butter, brown sugar, and flour to make coarse crumbs. Measure approximately 2 cups of the crumbs and press evenly into the greased pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
  3. While the pressed crumbs are in the oven, combine condensed milk and 1 cup of the chocolate chips in a saucepan and stir together over low heat until chocolate chips are melted and the mixture is combined.
  4. Pour chocolate/condensed milk mixture over hot crust and spread with a spatula until all of the crust is covered.
  5. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over chocolate. Drop jam by ½ teaspoons randomly over crumbs (less is more). Scatter remaining 1-cup of chocolate chips over the entire dish and bake for 25 minutes.
  6. Cool and cut into bars.

Read an excerpt from Deceiving Bella:

They kept a slow pace, strolling in silence as the breeze plastered their clothes to their bodies and the constant sound of waves hypnotized, lulling Reed into relaxing by degrees.

“Thanks for coming with me tonight. It’s nice having company.”

He looked at Bella, staring at the fading light playing off her eyes. “The water smells better than a bunch of sweaty guys.”

“Your gym.” Her brow creased ever so slightly as she held his gaze. “What do you do for fun?”

“Work and box.”

“Sounds…like a good time.”

“I like it.”

“Do you smile?”

He frowned. “Huh?”

“I was wondering if you ever smile—or laugh. I haven’t seen you do either since we met.”

He sent her an exaggerated grin.

She laughed.

He smiled for real this time, finding her laughter infectious.

“You do smile. I wasn’t sure if you had some sort of facial paralysis we hadn’t discussed yet.”

He grinned.

“You should do that more often.” She hooked her arm through his.

He almost missed a step as the warmth of her skin met his, surprised by her casual gesture. He wasn’t used to people being so touchy-feely. “I do it plenty.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it.”

How was it possible she smelled even better now that they stood so close? It had to be her hair. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

She stopped abruptly. “Are you seeing anyone?”

He studied her, not sure that he liked where this was going. “No. You interested?”

She shook her head. “You’re not really my type.”

He tried to ignore the direct hit to his ego. “You’re not mine either.”

Another smile warmed her face. “I think we could be great friends, and I like projects—love them, actually.”

His frown returned. “And that means…”

“It means I like you. And I love that you don’t seem to have any interest in getting into my pants.”

Years of concealing any and all facial expressions kept his eyes from popping wide. “Wow.” He ran his hand through his hair, speechless once again. “Okay.”

She laughed. “I’m a big fan of honesty—putting it right out there.”

He chuckled as he settled his sunglasses on top of his head. “Clearly.”

They started walking again.

“There’s something about you that feels…safe.”

He raised his brow, taken aback. He’d been called many things, but this was a first. “Safe?”

She nodded. “Safe. It’s a good thing, but you’re pretty serious. We need to lighten you up. You need to play more.”

“I play plenty. I box.”

She scoffed, “Beating someone’s face in can’t lead you down the road to happiness.”

Her side brushed his with every step. He imagined he should ease away, break their connection, but he liked the way she felt, that she trusted him. “There’s more to boxing than beating someone’s face in.”

She looked at him as if she wasn’t so sure.

“I’ll have to show you—” He glanced over his shoulder when he realized they hadn’t seen Lucy for a while and laughed as the dog lay on her back in the sand with her front paws in the air. “What is she doing?”

“Sunbathing.”

He laughed again, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen anything like that.” His eyes met Bella’s as she stared at him. “What?”

“You have a great laugh.”

To his surprise, he was having a great time. It shocked him further that he liked Bella as much as she seemed to like him. Being here with her was exactly what he’d needed. “How long do you want to stay?”

“The sun sets soon. It’s the best part.”

The sand wasn’t bothering him much, and he couldn’t remember the last time his shoulders felt so loose. “I don’t have a blanket.”

“We can sit on our shoes.” She tossed hers down. “We can plunk ourselves right here.”

Lucy rolled to her side, stood, and ran their way.

He shrugged, dropping his flip-flops to the ground. “I guess this is as good a place as any.”

“It’ll be spectacular.” She took his hand, pulling him down next to her. “You won’t regret it.”

“We’ll have to remember a blanket next time.”

She smiled. “You want to come back?”

He stared ahead, petting Lucy when she curled up next to him, breathing in Bella with each inhalation. “I could see myself doing this again.”

She gave his shoulder a bump. “Good. You can be my beach buddy.”

He nodded, liking the idea. “Yeah, sure.”

“Great.”

“Great.” He crossed his ankles in the sand, his foot brushing Bella’s as they settled in to enjoy the show. It had been too damn long since he watched a sunset.

Did you enjoy the excerpt? You can read the first chapter on my website, www.catebeauman.com, or you can finish the whole book with the links below!

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About the author:
International bestselling author Cate Beauman is known for her full-length, action-packed romantic suspense series, The Bodyguards of L.A. County. Her novels have been nominated for the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, National Indie Excellence Award, Golden Quill Award, Writers Touch Award, and have been Cate Beaumannamed Readers Favorite Five Star books. In 2015, JUSTICE FOR ABBY was selected as the Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Gold Medalist, while SAVING SOPHIE took the Silver Medal. SAVING SOPHIE was also selected as the 2015 Readers Crown Award winner for Romantic Suspense and FALLING FOR SARAH received the silver medal for the 2014 Readers’ Favorite Awards.

Cate makes her home in North Carolina with her husband, two boys, and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack. Currently Cate is working on her twelfth full length romantic suspense novel.

 

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The Operator by Kim Harrison

By

On November 3, 2016

In F-J, Fiction, Kim Harrison, Science Fiction, The Peri Reed Chronicles

The OperatorThe Operator

by Kim Harrison
Series: The Peri Reed Chronicles, #2

ARC, 468 pg.
Pocket Book, 2016

Read: October 17 – 20, 2016


I loved Peri Reed’s debut in The Drafter last year — it was one of my 10 favorites of 2015, so to say I was eager to read this is somewhat of an understatement. Sure, I was a little apprehensive, too — could Harrison pull it off again? Thankfully, yes she could. You may be able to jump in to the series with this point, but I really wouldn’t recommend it at all. Go read The Drafter.

The Operator picks up with Peri in a much better place (mentally, at least) than we left her in — she’s living out of the business, she runs a coffee shop that’s marketed towards the elite of Detroit — the moneyed, those wanting the most secure networks while sipping their morning caffeine fix, and those willing to spend an exorbitant amount on coffee.

She’s working really hard to convince herself that this is the life she wants when her past catches up with her. And before she knows it, she’s got the remnants of Opti trying to bring her back in — and the government’s version of a “clean” Opti doing their best to recruit her (and honestly, they’re taking more of a “stick” approach than a “carrot” approach).

Faces from her past — those she trusts, but not enough; those she trusts, but doesn’t want to; and those she’ll never trust — compete (on both sides) with people she doesn’t know and doesn’t trust. And, as always, Peri doesn’t even know if she can trust herself — but she’s very clear on what she wants: out. Out of the life, out of the spy business, out of everything that defines her. To get there, she’s going to have to rely on everything that she’s trying to get away from, but that’s a price she’s willing to pay. It may be Quixotic, but it’s all she’s got (other than her cat).

It is difficult to talk about the plot without giving too much away, so that’s as specific as I can get.

If there was a problem with The Drafter was that it was sometimes as confusing for the reader as it was for Peri to know what was going on (I’m not saying, it was poorly written — but as things were filtered through Peri’s perception, which were pretty in flux . . .). In The Operator, we don’t have that problem — Peri’s sometimes not sure what she’s doing, or that she’s doing it for the reasons she thinks that she is — but she’s very clear about what’s going on. Actually, sometimes, I think she’s the only one who sees the whole board and understands what’s going on. Which makes everything much easier for the reader to follow.

She had a clear objective, clear obstacles to overcome, and the gumption and skills to get the jobs done. The only question is: can she accomplish all she’s set out to accomplish before she’s killed or has her mind wiped?

Characters — again, this is tough. I’d like to say X at first seemed like a good antagonist — if not enemy — but then Y happens and X does Z and reveals that they can be a trusted ally and possible friend. But if I’m going to do that, I might as well reveal half the plot. There are some great new character, I’ll say instead, and every one that Peri ends the book trusting/befriending, I’d like to spend a lot more time with. A couple of decent new enemies/antagonists — I think we get enough of them. The people who survived The Drafter and made it to these pages, we learn more about them and pretty much cement our appraisals of from last time out. As always, Harrison gets almost every character note right, I think I’d have an easier time noting where she fumbles on that front.

If for whatever (very wrong) reason you ignore the story, this book is worth reading just for on a tiny little details that Harrison has filled this with to make a slightly futuristic future in this world. You can recognize it as our world, but it’s future-enough to be a totally new world so you don’t recognize everything. I’m not sure those sentences make sense, but you probably get my gist. I could do a post just on the future tech, culture, economics, etc. I’m not going to do that — just not enough time on my hands — but I could, because the world Harrison has surrounded Peri with is just that developed and detailed. And almost none of the details like that have any bearing on the plot beyond grounding the characters. I love that.

This may not be as well executed as its predecessor, but Harrison spent so much of The Drafter setting up the world while telling the story — where this time, she just gets to play in the world and tell the story. I think I enjoyed this one more, while I didn’t admire it as much. I have a few ideas what Peri and the rest will be up to in The Agent, but I’m more than prepared for Harrison to do something better than those. All I know for sure is that it’s too long before it’s released. The Operator is a slick, sleek, SF adventure novel that’s sure to satisfy on several levels.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from Pocket Books, and I thank them very much.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

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