A Flaw in the Blood by Stephanie Barron

3 stars
R- 2

Interesting premise, though it certainly doesn't paint Queen Victoria in the kindest light.

Honestly, I wanted to love it, but I had a hard time following parts of it (though that could have just been how crazy tired I've been) and some things just didn't seem very developed.

Overall, not a bad read.

Power Down by Ben Coes

3 stars
R- 1
Violence, language

This thriller, while interesting, kind of fell flat for me.

Between lengthy descriptions, repetitions, and contradictory paragraphs, what should have been a fast-moving plot got mired in words.  I really think it could have been 50, if not 100, pages shorter.

Which kind of makes me think it would make a much better movie.... since a movie would trim that stuff down a ton.

If you like Tom Clancy, you might give this one a try... but I ended up skimming a lot of it.

The Shadow War by Glen Scott Allen

4 stars
R- 2

Very "Da Vinci Code" except... not.  lol

Conspiracy theories like you wouldn't believe.

The Revolutionary War, King Phillip's War, the COLD WAR..... all there.

Weird symbols, check.

People pulling strings behind the scenes, check.

People pulling the strings BEHIND the behind the scenes??  Um... maybe?  lol

You are kind of left hanging with some loose ends, but I think that was totally intentional.

Recommended.

The Holy Thief by William Bryan

4 stars
R- 1

Murder and mayhem in Moscow!

An interesting mystery/suspense set in 1936, this story follows Korolev, a detective, as he tries to solve a series of horrific murders amid the fears of purges and coming war.

At first I had a hard time with the character of Korolev-- he seems to contradict himself.  But you know what?  It works.  Life was full of contradictions for those striving to be loyal to a government who insisted that the God you believed in didn't exist.  Not to mention the fine lines between guilt and innocence.

Overall, recommended.  Very interesting.

Think of a Number by John Verdon

4 stars
R- 1
Copy received for review

An intriguing thriller about a killer who seems to read his victims' minds....

Very interesting.

Funny story-- I checked it out from the library... and then checked it out again (so I had 2 library copies out at the same time).... and then found it in my pile of books received for review!  LOL

Anyway, I'd love to have given it 5 stars, but there were threads that didn't get tied up... and threads that didn't need to be there at all.  Fairly typical of a first novel, really.

Apparently it's intended to be the first of a series... not sure how I feel about that.  I think it makes a better stand alone.

Overall, intriguing and a little creepy.  :)

The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman

3 stars
R- 3
Copy received for review

I really struggled with this one.

For one, I wanted it to be a mystery, because it's Laura Lippman, and so my brain kept trying to pick out the clues, the complications, the plot twists..... and they're not there.  It's much more character-driven, rather than plot-driven.

And the resolution bothered me.  I don't do so well with moral ambiguity... I don't like gray areas.  Compassion I get, forgiveness sure, but the excusal of cruelty, the complete refusal to take any responsibility for one's actions, those I have a hard time with.

Overall, it was interesting, but just didn't quite work for me.  Definitely well-written.

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

4 stars
R- 3.5

Definitely racy and a little slim on plot, but oh my gosh it was funny!!

Like laugh out loud, good thing I'm not drinking anything because it would be coming out my nose FUNNY.

Snorting out loud hoping you don't wake up the kids funny.

(Did I mention it was funny?)

I read a review on Goodreads where the reviewer actually said someone should tell the author that stringing together a huge chain of jokes does not constitute a novel, lol.

And it was slim on plot, I'll agree with that.  Though it actually wasn't as slim on plot as I thought it was going to be.

Really more of a paranormal romance with a mystery thrown in, but the mystery stuff is totally there.  As are bunches of crazy dead people.  And crazy living people, though in some ways that seems redundant. ;)

Plus, as a huge bonus, there's a funny little quote as the heading for each chapter.  Things like "When fighting clowns, always go for the juggler".  I love it.

So overall, if you like romance/don't mind racy, like paranormal and mystery and want a good laugh, this one is a good bet.

Don't Kill the Messenger by Eileen Rendahl

4 stars
R- 3

Okay, so you know I don't really do vampire books, but this was on the Reader's Choice list so I grabbed it.

I guess I shouldn't call it a vampire book, though.  It's a paranormal romance with vampires, werewolves, kiang shi, imps, banshees.... oh, and Kokopelli.

The main character is a "messenger"-- a human with paranormal skills that acts as a go-between for all the things that go bump in the night.  Like the vampire that works the night shift in the ER (he's a doctor).  Or the werewolf that runs the local pub.

Overall, it was kind of fun.  I liked the characters for the most part.  There was plenty of action.  The romance wasn't dreadful. ;)

If you like paranormals, this is probably a good bet.

In Transit by Kathleen Gerard

2.5 stars
r-1
Copy received for review

Okay, let me start out by saying that this book was not what I thought it was going to be, therefore it was not really my style, and that colors my review.

This "romantic suspense" is very heavy on the romance and lighter on the suspense.  And let's face it, I'm just not into romances when there's not a lot else going on.

Technically, there is a lot going on, but I just don't have a lot of patience for the heroine who can't see that the man she loves is a psychotic loser.

Terribly uncharitable of me, I know.

However, if you like romances, it's not badly written.  If it seems like your style, give it a try.  The problem was it wasn't mine and I was bored.

(Apathetic reviews suck, don't they?  Sorry.  There as bad to write as they are to read, I promise.)

Here's the Goodreads synopsis to make up for it:
Can a rookie cop survive the men who cross her path in the NYPD?


When a psychic in a shopping mall tells Rita Del Vecchio that she is "destined for greatness," and she will "marry a man in uniform," the restless, wet-behind-the-ears, 22 year-old decides to finally take control of her life. Rita sets out on a quest to become a New York City Police Officer. But can a spry, feisty, single woman thrive in the gritty world of New York's Finest?

Leaving behind the suburbs of New Jersey and a job as an under-tipped waitress, Rita Del Vecchio hangs up her apron and ballet slippers for a bullet-proof vest. But will she wear it? And if she does, will it protect her on the mean streets of Manhattan? Can it also protect her from Cupid’s arrows if they should land amiss?

Rita is assigned to the New York City Transit Police Squad and gets more than she bargained for. Riding the Lexington Avenue Subway Line, Rita winds up meeting not one man in uniform, but many. Whom will she love?

IN TRANSIT combines romance and suspense. This woman-in-jeopardy story delves into the ordinary lives of NYPD career cops and how their fates are determined by people who hold secrets as dark and as labyrinth-like as the New York City Subway System.

Anyway, this is definitely a clean romance.  If it sounds like your thing, go for it. :)

The Athena Project by Brad Thor

4 stars

r-2.5
copy received for review

An interesting action/thriller focused on a team of elite women working for the Department of Defense. Throw in some uncovered Nazi experiments and a few crazies and you've got all sorts of stuff happening. :)

While this is not the first book in the series (I think it's the second) it can be read as a stand-alone without too much confusion.

And it doesn't have the same level of graphic violence and language that most books in this genre have, which was nice.

And it has a cool cover.

Overall, recommended.

The Camelot Caper by Elizabeth Peters

4 stars
r-1

That is a totally different cover.... and it makes no sense.  Oh well.

Anyway, what a fun romp about England!

A while back I raided my aunt's bookcase-- looking for Amelia Peabody books-- and simply grabbed everything by Elizabeth Peters, assuming they all belonged to that series.  (Which I acknowledge is dumb.... Like grabbing everything by Dorothy Gilman and assuming they're all Mrs. Pollifax books.)  I was sorting through them the other day trying to figure out what order to read them in and realized three were not Amelia Peabody books at all.

This one is a stand-alone, at least as far as I can tell.  A "romantic suspense" about a girl with a ring and a few random English relatives she's never met.  But before she can get to the old family homestead, people start chasing her about for no apparent reason.

All in all, a great light summer read.  Fluff, really.  :)

A Quiet Vendetta by RJ Ellory

___ stars (see below)
R- 3.5
lots of profanity

*This book came all the way from the State Library of Louisiana for me to read it.  I don't think it was published in the US and apparently that was the nearest copy my library could find.  Pretty cool, huh?*
How can one book be so beautiful and so terrible at the same time?

Now, I am NOT saying that this book is terrible, just dark.  Very very dark.  With a fair amount of profanity.

Take the darkest, creepiest Criminal Minds you can think of (like, say, the Tim Curry episode-- holy freakin' creepiness!) and multiple it by 10 or so.  That kind of dark.

And yet, so beautifully written.  Achingly, hauntingly beautiful.  RJ Ellory has a mastery of language that is poetic and nearly Shakespearean.  The descriptions, especially the descriptions of New Orleans early on in the book, are vibrant and pulsing with life.  They want to be read aloud.  You can all but hear them as you read.

So, while disturbing-- a good 40% or so of the narrative is a mafia hitman telling his life-story-- it's also fascinating.  The concept and set-up is clever and very well-executed.

And oh my gosh, it could make a GREAT movie.

Which leaves me torn.  I got bogged down in the darkness.  Detailed description after detailed description of brutal, ruthless murders.... who wouldn't get bogged down, right? 

It took me forever to read, and there were parts I simply did not enjoy.  But on the other hand, there were so many parts that I did.

And I simply can't give a bad rating to such amazing writing.

So maybe it's a love-hate thing.  I don't know.

I would recommend it, if you don't mind dark.  But then again, I don't usually mind dark and this about did me in.

Counts for the Support Your Local Library Challenge... and also supported a non-local library, lol.

Shudder by Jennie Hansen

5 Stars

R- 0

LDS fiction

Source- review copy from author/publisher

I'm a regular reader of Jennie Hansen's blog, and was thrilled when she contacted me to ask if I wanted to review her latest work.

Shudder is an LDS suspense/fiction about two friends whose lives just aren't going quite as planned. (Though technically "suspense" isn't how Jennie Hansen intended her book to be classified, which she blogged about last week. I think it works, though.) First, Clare breaks her wrist. Under circumstances that seem more and more suspicious to Darcy... then Claire's boyfriend decides to become their new roommate. Um, no. I'm totally with Darcy on the "so what if he's a returned missionary, we're not getting a male roommate" thing.

So Darcy moves out. And things just kind of get weirder.

This was a pretty quick read and I really enjoyed it. Good characters (though Clare comes off as kind of an idiot, it's unfortunately a trap that all too many women fall into) and a fun story.

Definitely recommended and totally clean.

Oh, and over at Jennie Hansen's blog, she does contests twice a month! This time around she's offering Shudder! Go check it out!!