Review: Broken Ground

Broken Ground by Val McDermid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love the UK background and culture, and that makes this book quite good. The character development and environment is very good.

The book really isn't about the mystery so much as the characters and motivations. And that makes this book quite unique. I haven't read anything by Val McDermid before, but I definitely will check out more of her books.

The plot is intriguing, though, and the inheritance is surprising.

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Review: The Last Tourist

The Last Tourist by Olen Steinhauer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This will be a short review because it was extremely hard to get into the book. I love spy thrillers, especially ones like Robert Ludlum and Alister MacLean wrote. Steinhauer doesn't write like them. Of course, this is 4th in a series so it's difficult to get into something that been going on and developing for 3 books.

I liked the fast pace, the foreign places, some transitions (needed a lot more to keep the pace from being so disjointed), and the brief descriptions to try to bring new readers up to date. However, in order to completely understand this book and not get lost in all the characters and the switching from first person to third person, one should read the first 3 books or at least a couple of them.

I didn't like the number of characters I had to keep up with, the switching from first person to third person, the lack of really good transitions to keep the pace a flow instead of jump, jerk, start, flow, stop, etc.

The writing was good, so I will check out another of Olen Steinhauer's books

3 of 5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

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Review: The Blue Cloak

The Blue Cloak by Shannon McNear
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think Shannon McNear did an excellent job with this gruesome tale of two serial killers in 1784. I admire how she remained a bit vague with the gory details of each murder. My imagination is strong enough to have filled in the details and the murders were quite shocking and terrible.

I highly recommend this book for it's faith value and how McNear's characters focus on prayer to defeat the satanic forces at work in these two serial killers. I am appalled at their complete sociopathic and psychopathic lack of regard for human life.

I also agree with the author that the women these men owned were so co-dependent they could not leave. Two hundred years ago, people didn't understand co-dependency, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen regularly. It is a huge problem in some marriages even today.

Timing seemed a little off, though. She made it seem like letters and communications were really fast rather than taking weeks and months to travel from one part of the country to another. That is the ONLY thing I could fault.

This is 5-star writing on a subject that is quite dark. It may be too dark for some readers, and certainly the subject is not good for younger readers because it is so dark. However, McNear does an excellent job of differentiating man's free will of choice and God's control over justice.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

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Dare to Live Greatly

Dare to Live Greatly is a wonderful book but has a several technical errors (the reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 stars). I can't help but read books as an editor because that's my day job :) so these typos, punctuation, and capitalization errors were distracting for me -- they probably won't be detected or be distracting to the general public except for teachers, and professors, and other editors :). For some reason, there were a lot of things missed, which can happen even to the best professionals.

The  content far exceeds and overcomes the annoyance. This is a super correlation between Navy SEAL training and living the Christian Life. Living Christian is hard and those who do it well do it well because they want to please God and be obedient to Christ. God gives us the ultimate training, and that is on the job training that we get in a nasty, dark world. Fowler gives you an amazing, clear vision of how to tackle living Christian.

The content is very good, very uplifting and encouraging. He not only tackles common challenges and opportunities that Christians face daily, but he also shows how to overcome them and capitalize on them. That is often times rare in these types of books. The examples are excellent, the quotes are very apropos, and the SEAL steps for dealing with anything in life are way beyond good. I can definitely tell that God was the guiding hand in this endeavor. A joy to read, study, hide in my heart. Fowler's biblical knowledge is a pleasure to read because the insight is clearly Holy Spirit led and God taught, not man-taught. Another rare thing in this type of book.

The rat sandwich and the Tijuana sludge bath were a bit hard to take. I have an excellent, overcharged imagination and I could taste that spoiled rat, and I could smell and feel that sludge. That is excellent writing. However, it is also stomach churning. My professional self is applauding and saying great job, but my personal self was gagging. It was a bit hard for me to stay focused, especially when he mentioned them while making another point or two in the narrative. I definitely appreciated the descriptions of events and places... I could feel the cold and the heat, and generally used most of my senses while reading. Excellent.

Fowler made living the Christian life come alive with purpose. This is a keeper.

Review: Home: Interstellar: Merchant Princess

Home: Interstellar: Merchant Princess by Ray Strong
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It took me awhile to realize why I wasn't getting into the story. The premise is really exciting, and the obstacles are intriguing. There is a conspiracy going on that is extremely far-reaching.

The technology is very light. I like real science in my sci-fi, so this was a tiny stretch for me.

So what was the deal? Why couldn't I care deeply for these misplaced children who were facing enormous psychological and physical problems?

The story was told in a style that had no passion. I read a newspaper and get more passion. I didn't feel like I was right there with the characters because it seemed the author didn't care all that much for the characters. The reader can't smell or taste or feel much of what's going on because the story is told from an atmosphere as antiseptic as space is a vacuum.

When the inciting incident of a story happens in the backstory, it is very difficult to get into the story.

All that said, I liked it but it didn't make me hungry for more.

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Review: Meow Matrimony

Meow Matrimony by Lisa Lickel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this story. I love cats, so the cat aspect was really fun. But something was sort of missing and then I realized this is book 2 of a series and I had missed book 1. That must be where the character development happened, right? Because there isn't much character development here.

There is a lot happening in this story, which makes it feel like real life. But sometimes it felt like clutter clouding the issue of the mystery, and the mystery every so slowly was solved. Nothing fast paced here, and a lot of distractions. Distractions are not all bad, either. However, the main thing was character without much development so they seemed more cardboard rather than alive and lively. That is why it gets 3 stars instead of 4 or 5 stars.



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Review: A Perfect Silhouette

A Perfect Silhouette by Judith McCoy Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good story premise. Excellent historical read. Characters are fairly well developed and the romance is good. Trust issues, Faith issues, and Class Status issues are themed.

I really enjoyed this story and the historical depiction of the workings of a textile mill. After I read this book, I ran across a couple of seasons of The Mill, a BBC production inspired by true stories of an 1840-50s textile mill in England. The depiction was so similar to what I read in this book. I was further impressed.

The major thing that kept this from being a 4 or 5 star read is there are quite a few unresolved problems -- widowed sister and family-what happened to them? The hero gave up his pampered son place to find out from a worker's POV what working a textile mill was like and what needed changing - nothing was resolved here about the changes.

People are complex and, of course, meet Jesus in many different ways. One character gets tied up with Jesus in buttons and bows without any real reason why. We all have motivations and this woman's motivation of selfishness and snobbery was not addressed. Just too much fairy tale resolutions that kept this book from being a really good satisfying read.

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Review: The Noble Guardian

The Noble Guardian by Michelle Griep
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As a stand-alone, this story is top notch. While it may be a trilogy, it does not depend upon the previous books, very straight forward and quite an excellent read.

As a historical read, it left a lot to be desired.

There were far too many modernisms in dialogue ("save your drama," "suit yourself,") and narration that would jerk me back to the present. There were no rubber pants back in those days, so the sheer work of hygiene would be almost insurmountable on a road trip because diapers were rarely changed and the waste was not washed out. The smell would have been unbearable in a closed in coach. Historical readers care about this kind of thing.

This is the problem with today's historical romance. No one seems to care about historical accuracy and authenticity--such as an upper class lady going cross country without a lady's maid or companion. For Regency times, this would be enough to completely ruin a woman's reputation to the point of equating her with harlotry. Griep did a good job of making the reader believe going back was impossible and the only way was to go forward not matter what awaited. But--servants and the lower class innkeepers and merchants were just as snotty as the upper class. No innkeeper would allow a woman traveling by herself to have a room. That would ruin his reputation as a good place to stay.

Pardon my little rant here but no gentleman of those times would consider taking a gentlewoman on a trip like this without a maid or companion. Samuel is written as a gentleman and sharply compared to a born gentleman who doesn't act as such. This puts it in the realm of a fairy tale, but wait! Even fairy tales keep princes in their correct social status.

However, the storyline and the romance was pretty good. So if you don't care about authenticity, you'll enjoy the read.

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Review: A Silken Thread

A Silken Thread by Kim Vogel Sawyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As a historical read, this one is top notch. Sawyer does excellent research. Each character has just enough backstory to broaden the culture aspect of the different classes and motivations of the characters. Very well done.

The settings and descriptions are also woven intricately into the narration adding to the overall interest aspect of the book.

However, there are so many characters with motivations to explore that it feels just a bit jumbled. Although, the main characters are very believable and act/react according to their traits. That part is satisfying. So all in all, it is a worthy read.



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Review: Synapse

Synapse by Steven James
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this book.

I adore Sci-Fi. I grew up reading sci-fi and all the techy things that go with it. Almost no tech stuff to bite into in this story, but lots of stuff to think about. However, I couldn't get over the fact that an AI has no soul, therefore an AI doesn't need Jesus to save something he doesn't have. The question of who can and who can't believe is a non-sequitur. So when the premise of the book became a non-factor, I lost all interest because I just didn't care about the characters.

What irritated me the most was all the different points of view. That came off to me as a trick Just-To-See-If-I-Can-Do-It kind of trick. To me it spoiled the whole flow of the storyline and was the main reason I quit reading the book, not the content nor the lack of character development.

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Review: Breath of Joy!: Ah, Autumn

Breath of Joy!: Ah, Autumn by Kathy Joy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here are the best thoughts gathered in one enticing place that will bring back memories and spark new ones.

Quite an intriguing picture book. I am honored to have been chosen to review Kathy's book 2 in the series. What an amazing cache of beautiful Autumn moments. Perfect for your coffee table, to start conversations, or just to walk through and savor.

Highly recommend this book. It's a keeper!

5 of 5 stars

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Review: The Killing Tide

The Killing Tide by Dani Pettrey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Try as I might, I could not get into this story. I think it is because I really did not like Gabby at all. I've been a journalist and the things Gabby did are things that could have gotten me fired from my job. Recklessness as depicted here and in other things such as movies and TV is not admired in journalists and reporters. So be aware of that mindset when you see I gave this only two stars.

Please understand I really enjoy Dai Pettrey novels. She's a great writer and good researcher, but she fell down on this one. But then everyone has a right to fail at least once.

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Review: More Than Words Can Say

More Than Words Can Say by Karen Witemeyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite a good story with a great premise that is fairly believable. I know our frontier women had a lot of gumption, and this book shows it.

The characterizations are very good. You get a feel for each character and they act within character. However, there are some modernisms that distract. You can tell this is the 2nd in a series because what happens in the first book is mentioned quite a lot. I didn't read the first one so I thought I was being fed quite a bit of backstory. Then I caught on. It isn't distracting and what happened in the first book doesn't build in the 2nd book. It's a stand-alone.

I think the only thing that would make this book better is if the main characters would quit rehashing their feelings and move along. Certainly, the reader doesn't need reminding every chapter. Cut some of that out, or at least think it in different way sheesh.

Above all that, though, it is a very good story and worthy of reading. I gave it 4 of 5 stars.


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Review: King's Shadow: A Novel of King Herod's Court

King's Shadow: A Novel of King Herod's Court by Angela Elwell Hunt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I adored Angela's book about Joseph in Egypt. This one I'm not too keen on. It switches points of view so often my head was spinning. I really hate that. However, Hunt is a good researcher and I plowed on.

There are a LOT of great reviews of this story so I won't tell you what it is about. Characterization was not up to Hunt's normal quality. It was often difficult to remember who was telling the story, and it is hard to flip back to the beginning of a chapter to see whose POV I was into. So I gave up. Keep that in mind when you see I gave it 3 stars.

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Review: An Officer's Vow

An Officer's Vow by Penny Hampson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved this book! Great writing, super character development. Reminded me a lot of Georgette Heyer's books. The premise is different enough that it holds your interest. I highly recommend it for content, situations, characters, and storyline.

This one is well worth the money and is a keeper.

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Review: The Persian Gamble

The Persian Gamble by Joel C. Rosenberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I see I'm one of the very, very few who took exception to a few things that bogged the intensity of suspense down to a slow crawl in this story. Of course, the front said that it was the unedited version.

It is not like a Robert Ludlum-Jason Bourne story. There is a lot of action, but there's too much backstory that cuts the tension building and dashes cold water all over the story that's heating up. There is a TON of backstory that really bogs the story down. It isn't necessary. It does not move the story along. There is no need whatsoever to try to instill pathos for someone that will be killed in the next few pages. Suspense thrillers are not that kind of read.

However, I found this book to be extremely engrossing. When the suspense and tension was allowed to build, it built to pressure cooker hot. When that happens you will read far into the night. But... There's also a lot of switching around from American, to Russian, to North Korean, to Iran.... YIKES! I didn't know what part of the world I'd be in when I finally turned the light out. Frankly, I skipped over a lot of that so I could get back to the story. And didn't miss a thing that I had to go back for.

Warning! A RANT: I got it from Netgally, and I'm tired of publishers throwing books on Netgalley without the first bit if editing. Come ON people, give reviewers something to rave about. Don't make us stumble around for something great to say about a story when taking a week to give the thing a first edit would make these books shine like a diamond.

Anyway..
Marcus Ryker is back with a bang! And what a bang! He takes enormous punishment to get the job done, and of course, he does. The suspense is really good -- especially the trip to North Korea. I really like books where the hero has to overcome impossible odds, and this book delivers that kind of ride (if you can wade through all the stuff going on that does not move the story along.

4 stars for storyline minus a star for too much back story.

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Review: Life, Death and Cellos

Life, Death and Cellos by Isabel Rogers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I actually thought this was a murder mystery in the English style. Not.

However, it was enjoyable up to a point. I adore anything written across the pone. Well almost anything. This was a LOT like a soap opera, even though there was a stolen cello -- and what a cello!

The characters are very British, quite deliciously staid and a little stiff -- but not all of them. If you like character driven stories that are well written, you'll like this book.



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Review: Chain Reaction

Chain Reaction by Rebecca York
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Great book. Great story flow. Fast-paced suspense. As many twists and turns as your heart desires. Great character development.

There was a little drawback when Lily Darnell believed a person over the phone over her husband of years. That felt very contrived, but as the story unfolded I guess it was necessary. That said, the characters are believable and the premise is very believable.

If you like suspense/action/one-man-wars (actually it is man+woman-war against the mega corporate giant with top secret government contract, then you'll love this book.

Five of five stars.

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Review: The Night Window

The Night Window by Dean Koontz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I adore anything written by Dean Koontz. This is no exception.

The last in his series with Jane Hawk with all kinds of frightening and chilling little brain invaders. What a climax!!

Dean has a special way of writing that ignites the imagination. After reading this book I was ready to quit going out in public but join a self-defense class.

The book is packed with suspense, and quite terrifying because it really is plausible. Anyway. the plot winds up all the plot strings ties them up and fills in all the plot holes where Dean left you hanging. You really do need to read at least one of the previous book -- recommend at least the first one -- to completely understand everything going on. He brings back a few characters and gets rid of the bad guys in a very satisfying way. All the characters have tremendous development, and it seems like they like to come visit you in the dark of night. It's like you can't stop thinking of the story, even when it's over. Sigh.

Most excellent and satisfying read. Highly recommend.

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Review: The Heiress Comes to Town

The Heiress Comes to Town by Janet Syas Nitsick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this book from the author, and I am happy to review it.

This is an excellent premise for a historical romance. The characters are distinct and believable, and I can feel Nina's desperation to get away from her controlling father.

The book is well-written, although as an editor there are lots of things I could suggest such as removing a couple of modernisms (which it has been a few weeks since I read it and now can't remember them). Modernisms are things the characters say that are from modern language. And there is some wordiness that seems to dam up the story flow at times.

However, that said, the story is a good one, and fairly fast-paced. You get a good feel for Victorian small town America, but there is a lack of nosy-ness of neighbors that always goes with small-town life.

The main characters are well-developed. The supporting cast could use a little fine tuning. Mrs. Green seems kindly at first, then rather dictatorial, then fiercely loyal...

I recommend this book, and give it 4 stars out of 5.

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