All I Did Was Shoot My Man by Walter Mosley - BOOK REVIEW

Title:  All I Did Was Shoot My Man
Author:  Walter Mosley
Publisher:   Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Group
Release Date:  January 24, 2012
Hardcover, 326 pages
ISBN 10:    159448824X
ISBN 13:  9781594488245
The Book Depository / Amazon

Goodreads description:

In the latest and most surprising novel in the bestselling Leonid McGill series, Leonid finds himself caught between his sins of the past and an all-too-vivid present. 

Seven years ago, Zella Grisham came home to find her man, Harry Tangelo, in bed with her friend. The weekend before, $6.8 million had been stolen from Rutgers Assurance Corp., whose offices are across the street from where Zella worked. Zella didn't remember shooting Harry, but she didn't deny it either. The district attorney was inclined to call it temporary insanity-until the police found $80,000 from the Rutgers heist hidden in her storage space. 

For reasons of his own, Leonid McGill is convinced of Zella's innocence. But as he begins his investigation, his life begins to unravel. His wife is drinking more than she should. His oldest son has dropped out of college and moved in with an ex-prostitute. His youngest son is working for him and trying to stay within the law. And his father, whom he thought was long dead, has turned up under an alias. 

A gripping story of murder, greed, and retribution, All I Did Was Shoot My Man is also the poignant tale of one man's attempt to stay connected to his family.

My Take: 

Last year I read and reviewed my first (but Mosley's third) installment in the Leonid McGill series, When the Thrill is Gone (link to my review).  It was enough to make me love this character - a thinking man's P.I. with a philosophical bent:

 The path of my life appeared before me-hard and clear.  I could,

in the dream, turn around and take everything back.  I could pass

through time and decide not to help Zella or lie to Shelly.  I could

travel all the way back to the womb and be another person or no

one at all.  But I was too comfortable on that quartz plinth under

the summer's sun.  Laying there my life seemed to have enough 

meaning to engender nostalgia - the greatest enemy of human logic.

In All I Did Was Shoot My Man, Leonid is back, trying to atone for some of his past wrongs.  When a woman named Zella gets out of prison for the double crime of shooting her boyfriend for cheating on her with her best friend as well as being part of a multi-million dollar heist from the Rutgers Assurance Corp., he meets her at the station with start-up money, a place to stay, and a job.

When people Mosley knows are actually associated with the heist start to turn up dead, Leonid convinces Zella to go to one of his safe houses while he tries to figure out who is responsible.  The consummate multi-tasker, he is following up leads on his own father (who deserted the family when Leonid was young), trying to keep his younger son out of trouble by hiring him, looking for the baby that Zella was pregnant with when she went to prison, and working to keep from being killed himself.

Mr. Mosley has come up with another winner - part mystery, part thriller, part family drama - completely entertaining.

QUOTES

I mean Katrina and I hadn't been intimate or jealous of each other's lives in years.  We had three children but two of those had nothing to do with my DNA.  Katrina said they were mine and I went along with the sham because they were in my house and Katrina maintained that house.  She also made the best food I ever ate in my life.

"Mr. Plimpton, I'm going to sit on this couch and wait until I either speak to Miss Lowry or somebody she reports to.  You can go back into your rat's maze and tell the king rat that I said so."

"Somebody's trying to kill me?" I asked.
"I believe that your name might be on a list somewhere."
"What kind of sense does that make?"
"You think you're so innocent that no one could ever mean you harm?"
"No. What I wonder is why would you care?"
"I'm a cop, LT.  It's my job to protect the welfare of even garbage like you."
I disconnected the call.  No reason to argue or protest.  I was interested at the obvious anger that Kit was feeling.  He rarely showed his feelings.  I didn't much either.  That's why we might have been friends in another life.

Kit watched me for a few moments before saying, "That was some  impressive killing you did.  Naked too."
"I hope I didn't embarrass Officer Palmer."
"She said that after all she heard about you she thought your Johnson would be bigger.'
"Tell her that the air conditioner was on."

Writing:  4 out of 5 stars

Plot:   4 out of 5 stars

Characters:  4 out of 5 stars

Reading Immersion:  4 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:   4 out of 5 stars

Sensitive reader:  Some rough language.

BLOGGERS:  Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.

Author website

BUY IT:  At Amazon, The Book Depository, through the publisher's website,  and through other on-and-off-line booksellers.

Disclosure:  I  received a  complimentary ARC  of this title from the publisher to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.

One of my listed titles for the 2012 150+ Reading Challenge

One of my listed titles for the Mystery and Suspense Reading Challenge 2012

One of my listed titles for the 2012 ARC Reading Challenge

One of my listed titles for the Around the Stack in How Many Ways Reading Challenge

One of my listed titles for the 2012 ARC Reading Challenge

Prophecy: The Fulfillment by Deborah A. Jaeger - BOOK REVIEW

Title:  Prophecy: The Fulfillment
Author:  Deborah A. Jaeger
Publisher:   Hampton House Publishing
Release Date:  June 14, 2011
Hardcover, 392 pages
ISBN 10:    0982889100
ISBN 13:  9780982889107
The Book Depository / Amazon

Goodreads description:

A typical teenager, Jillian Macomb, is looking forward to senior high. Or at least she was. Having just broken up with her boyfriend, she receives the stunning and unexpected news that she's pregnant. Her father's protege, Stephen Jacobs, and she form an unlikely alliance as they realize that their nighttime apparitions are more than simple dreams, making it clear to them that the child she carries is no ordinary child. When a geneticist discovers that Jillian's pregnancy holds the key to inexplicable healings, he will stop at nothing to claim the magnificent discovery as his own. Meanwhile, government officials and representatives from the Catholic Church arrive to investigate the astonishing events, realizing that whoever controls the source of the miracles will become the ultimate world power. In the ultimate test of faith, Stephen and Jillian must decide who they can trust, and whether or not to believe the compelling and terrifying message of the prophecy.

My Take: 

In this modern (set in 2018) take on the Immaculate Conception, Jillian Macomb is 17 years old and a virgin when she and her family discover she is pregnant.  Her family is convinced (of course), that she is either lying about never having sex or that she may have been slipped a drug and doesn't remember having sex.

Stephen Jacobs is 25, a divinity student and protege of her father's.  He has been having dreams that he will need to save a young girl, and when he meets Jillian, he realizes that she is the girl from his dreams.

An accident at the lab where Jillian's blood is being analyzed results in Dr. Jackson Mullins (the evil geneticist) discovering that there is something unique about either Jillian or the baby she is carrying.  When the press finds out about "the miracle" that happened in the lab, the university and its hospital become the camping ground for the hopeful, although no one knows who or what is responsible for the miracle.

When Theresa Boone, a 43-year-old mother in the end stages of Lou Gehrig's disease, miraculously recovers, pandemonium ensues as the hospital tries to figure out how she could possibly have recovered.  Mullins knows, but HE'S not telling.

This is rather difficult for me to review, as the STORY was rather good.   Unfortunately, the writing and editing left something to be desired.  There were a lot of unnecessary commas and the dialogue throughout and action (especially in the last third of the book), felt rushed, stilted, and even forced.  This is one of those books that a reader wishes had gone to a professional editor for polishing, as it has potential to be really good.

QUOTE:

As he looked into her eyes, they both realized at that moment. . . the first miracle had occurred long before Dr. Sorrento sliced his hand on the broken glass of the slide.  The first miracle was growing in the womb of a little virgin girl in Nashville.

Writing:  2 out of 5 stars

Plot:   4 out of 5 stars

Characters:  3 out of 5 stars

Reading Immersion:  2.5 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:   2.8 out of 5 stars

BLOGGERS:  Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.

Author website

BUY IT:  At Amazon, The Book Depository,  and through other on-and-off-line booksellers.

Disclosure:  I  received a  complimentary copy of this title through Library Thing's Early Reads program to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.

Vigilante by Robin Parrish - BOOK REVIEW

Title:  Vigilante 
Author:  Robin Parrish
Publisher:  Bethany House
Release Date:  July 1, 2011
Paperback, 363 pages
ISBN 10:    0764206087
ISBN 13:  9780764206085
The Book Depository / Amazon

Goodreads description:

Nolan Gray is an elite soldier, skilled in all forms of combat. After years fighting on foreign battlefields, witnessing unspeakable evils and atrocities firsthand, a world-weary Nolan returns home to find it just as corrupt as the war zones. Everywhere he looks, there's pain and cruelty. Society is being destroyed by wicked men who don't care who they make suffer or destroy.

Nolan decides to do what no one else can, what no one has ever attempted. He will defend the helpless. He will tear down the wicked. He will wage a one-man war on the heart of man, and he won't stop until the world is the way it should be.

The wicked have had their day. Morality's time has come. In a culture starving for a hero, can one extraordinary man make things right?

My Take: 

Nolan Gray, one man of faith, a national war hero who spent two years in captivity under torture, friend and confidante of the President of the United States, fakes his death and re-emerges incognito as a person dubbed "The Hand" by the media.  In a world ruled by crime bosses, he is determined to show people that there is a better way.  His companions in this mission are Arjay Thale, a pacifist who is a brilliant engineer and inventor, and Aaron Bradford, Nolan's former commander.  They are joined by Alice Regan, a woman Nolan rescues from her abusive police officer husband.

There is a lot of action in this one.  Nolan is a well-trained fighter, and Arjay outfits him with wonderful gadgets, including a sort of micro-weave body armor that is impervious to bullets. 

When the President pushes a crime bill through Congress that calls for a crackdown on organized crime, an elite team of agents called the OCI (Organized Crime Intelligence) is formed.   When the first large-scale mission of this task force goes horribly wrong, some in the government attempt to shift the blame for it to "The Hand", and Nolan finds himself pursued by a crime boss seeking revenge.

This was in interesting look at the universal concept of good vs. evil and the apathy that seems to creep up into the general populace when they feel that there is no hope.  With lots of action, this is one that I think would translate well into movie format.  There are some instances that particularly stretch the imagination, as well as a mystifying (to me, at least) sudden reversal near the end of the novel that I felt wasn't fully explained or dealt with.  As with most thrillers/suspense novels, there isn't a ton of character depth (although I will give props to Parrish for giving us more than most of the genre writers in that area). 

This is a "Christian fiction" thriller that does a wonderful job of actually translating well to mainstream.  There are mentions of faith, because Nolan is a believer, but they are not heavy-handed, and Nolan is not one to judge someone badly simply because they don't share his faith.

All in all, this makes for an interesting, well-thought-out play on revenge, morality, and shows how far one man will go to make his own suffering count for something.

QUOTES

"He thinks himself righteous enough to influence the behavior of others.   Probably believes he is on some kind of divine mission.  He thinks the rest of this godforsaken city can be as 'good' as he is.  Give him time.  He will come to see things differently.  'Good' does not exist here.  Not in this world.  No merciful creator would cobble together a place so viciously cruel as this.  No loving creator would sit by and do nothing while there is pain and suffering."

The fight against crime was bigger than one mistake, and millions of Americans were counting on them to bring an end to the corruption, violence, and death.  He had been elected on that very promise.  Whoever this Hand guy was, even though he was operating outside of the law, he was doing real good in a part of the nation that needed all the good it could get.  He didn't deserve to take the fall for the mistakes of the people in this room.

Writing:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Plot:   3.5 out of 5 stars

Characters:  3 out of 5 stars

Reading Immersion:  4 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:   3.5 out of 5 stars

BLOGGERS:  Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.

Author Website

Read an excerpt

BUY IT:  At Amazon, The Book Depository, through the publisher's website,  and through other on-and-off-line booksellers.

Disclosure:  I  received a  complimentary copy of this title from the publisher to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.

Adrenaline by Jeff Abbott- BOOK REVIEW

Title:  Adrenaline
Author:  Jeff Abbott
Publisher:   Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Books
Release Date:  July 1, 2011
Hardcover, 416 pages
ISBN 10:    0446575178
ISBN 13:  9780446575171
The Book Depository / Amazon

Goodreads description:

Sam Capra—Brilliant CIA agent, loving husband, soon-to-be father—loses everything that matters to him in a horrifying moment in London. An unknown enemy has set him up as a traitor. However that enemy has targeted the wrong man. Escaping from the CIA, Sam goes on a desperate hunt for the killer who stole his family and to save his kidnapped wife and child. But the destruction of Sam's life was only step one in an extraordinary plot—and now Sam must become a new kind of hero..

My Take: 

FIRST SENTENCE:  Once my wife asked me:  if you knew this was our final day together, what would you say to me?

As the book opened, I felt a strong sense of deja vu.  Sam Capra is a parkour runner, and I read another thriller this year where the protagonist was also a parkour runner that opened in a similar fashion:  guy kisses girl goodbye, guy goes on a descriptive parkour run, guy comes back to the house and girl tells him that it's dangerous, especially with a baby coming.

But then it diverged, and I remembered that I WASN'T reading the same book :)

Sam and his wife Lucy, who is 7 months pregnant, both work for the CIA in Vauxhall.  One morning, when Sam is in a meeting, he receives a strange telephone call from his wife telling him to get out of the building.  She has been kidnapped, and as Sam runs after the car that she is in, his building explodes.

Since Sam is the only survivor, and Lucy has disappeared, he is of course the top suspect in the bombing.  It also seems that Lucy has stolen money from the Company, and the agency also believes that Sam, who is perfectly innocent, knows something about that as well. He endures being held prisoner by the CIA for months, undergoing questioning and torture, until his new "boss", Howell, finally allows him to be "free" (that being relative, as Sam is under constant observation and not allowed to return to his old job at the agency).

Sam is determined to find out what has happened to Lucy and to the son that would already have been born, and finds himself on a number of action-packed adventures, including an attempt on his own life (I look at my notes, and there is a section that basically says .. so-and-so kills so-and-so/so-and-so kills his team/so-and-so kills so-and-so  ... seriously, those are three of the lines [but with actual names instead of so-and-so :)]).

I enjoyed this one; as with many thrillers, character development falls short, BUT, the questions I had as a reader kept me going.  WAS Lucy a traitor or was she actually kidnapped and set up?  Who is the mysterious Mila who "hires" Sam to help find another kidnapped girl?  What agency does SHE work for?

All in all, a rather satisfying read, with lots of plots twists and turns, and a few surprises that I didn't see coming until the last minute.  I look forward to the next installment.

QUOTES (from an ARC; may be different in final copy):

I stayed very still but all I heard was the soft, dreamy hum of hospital equipment and air-conditioning.  I didn't call out for the nurse.  I was clean and in a bed and not in a dank, forgotten cell and no one was kicking me.

I was going to find the man with the scar, force him to tell me where my wife and child were.  Then I was going to be the last thing he ever saw on this earth.

No choice.  Starting tomorrow, I was going to have to steal a shipment of cigarettes from gun-toting Chinese smugglers to give me the man I was hunting.
Lucky me.

Writing: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Plot:   3.5 out of 5 stars

Characters:  3 out of 5 stars

Reading Immersion:   3.5 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:  3.25 out of 5 stars

BLOGGERS:  Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.

 

BUY IT:  At Amazon, The Book Depository, through the publisher's website,  and through other on-and-off-line booksellers.

 

This book is a listed title for my 2011 ARC Reading Challenge

Disclosure:  I  received a  complimentary ARC of this title from the publisher to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.

The Hypnotist by M. J. Rose - BOOK REVIEW

Title:  The Hypnotist
Author:  M. J. Rose
Publisher:   Mira Books, an imprint of Harlequin
Release Date:  May 1, 2011
Hardcover, 416 pages
ISBN 10:     0778326756
ISBN 13:  9780778326755
The Book Depository / Amazon

Goodreads description:

If you haven’t been reading M.J. Rose’s Reincarnationist series, then THE HYPNOTIST will blow away any excuse you may have had... A memorable, engrossing read, a story that sets a new bar for Rose. Something for everyone: murder, suspense, history, romance, the supernatural, mystery and erotica. These elements are woven together so skillfully that the whole becomes something new and different.... Rose, who never disappoints either her die-hard fans or the casual reader, has surpassed herself.

My Take: 

The Hypnotist is the third installment of M. J. Rose's Reincarnationist series, and it does well as a stand-alone title (a big plus in my book).

Lucian Glass is an FBI agent, part of an elite unit called ACT (Art Crimes Tactical Unit).  A former artist who lost a love and almost lost his own life twenty years ago due to an art-related theft, he lives for the job.  His job right now is to uncover who is behind an attempt to barter Hypnos, an enormous elephantine artifact, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in exchange for previously stolen works of art.  Iran and Greece are both laying legal claim to Hypnos, but there are others, including his current arch-nemesis, Dr. Malachai Samuels of the Phoenix Foundation, who believe that Hypnos may hold an important Memory Tool, an object which can help the owner of it access their past and gain power.

In his undercover role, Lucian himself becomes a patient at the Phoenix Foundation, where under hypnosis, what appear to be his own past lives are uncovered.  He also finds out about a young child who is experiencing visions that appear to be from her own past life.  All of these lives seem to center around a sculpture that may or may not be Hypnos.  Added to the mix is the fact that the artwork to be bartered also has a tie to Lucian's near-death twenty years ago.

There is a bit of everything in this novel.  I found myself interested in many facets, but I especially loved the looks into Lucian's past lives. I found myself a bit confused here and there.  For instance, I didn't "get" what the heck Memory Tools were for until quite late into the book, and as they play such an integral part in the reason why Dr. Samuels is obsessed, it would have been great to know what they really were much earlier.  I also think that there were far too many subplots - one or two could have been set aside to make the read not QUITE so convoluted.

That being said, this is the type of novel that could be made into a killer thriller movie.  I still don't believe in reincarnation, but, for just a moment or two during the reading, I may have :)  I would have liked to see more depth of character, but in a thriller, that's just something that I sometimes make do without.  This one kept me turning the pages, anxious to see who ends up with Hypnos in the end.

Writing:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Plot:   3.5 out of 5 stars

Characters:  3 out of 5 stars

Reading Immersion:   3.5 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:   3.25 out of 5 stars

OTHER REVIEWS:

Man of La Book

BLOGGERS:  Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.

Read an excerpt

BUY IT:  At Amazon, The Book Depository, through the publisher's website,  and through other on-and-off-line booksellers.

Disclosure:  I  received a  complimentary copy of this title through Goodreads First Reads program to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.

Odd Jobs by Ben Lieberman - BOOK REVIEW/GIVEAWAY - 2 winners! {CLOSED}

Title:  Odd Jobs
Author:  Ben Lieberman
Publisher:  Pero Thrillers, an imprint of SterlingHouse Publisher
Paperback, 294 pages
ISBN 10:    1563154722
ISBN 13:  9781563154720
The Book Depository / Amazon

AWARDS:

2010 Tommy Award

Goodreads description:

Ten years ago, Kevin Davenport's life was rocked after witnessing the murder of his father. It's tough enough growing up without a father, but now there's not enough money to support himself, his mother and college tuition. But Kevin doesn't give up so easily. He never gets the luxury of a "normal job" and is always on the hustle. And this time is no different. He finds himself working in the corrupt Kosher World Meat Factory, a gritty business controlled by a crime syndicate and filled with a bizarre cast of characters who start turning up dead. Things are never as they seem as Kevin begins to get a little too involved in the lives of hardened criminals. Soon enough, he finds himself in a battle for his life.

My Take: 

Kevin Davenport is a typical college student, working his way through college at various odd jobs.  His current job at the Kosher World Meat Factory is carrying beef carcasses. It's a good union job, with good pay, and he has Jimmy Balducci, a friend's father, to thank for it.

Kevin's father was a prosecutor in the D.A.'s office, and when Kevin was 11 years old, he was a witness to the death of both his father and his little sister in a hit-and-run accident.

As Kevin works at Kosher World, his mettle is tested, and he finds himself with a "side job" that involves fighting after hours.  He keeps his eyes open, and figures out that something is not right at Kosher World.  A co-worker ends up in pieces inside another worker's locker, and Kevin finds himself in deep danger when he witnesses criminal activity.  In a world populated by a brutal crime syndicate, Kevin does what he can to keep himself in one piece.  When he finds out that his father was actually murdered, he also finds out who is responsible, and his long-range plan turns into one of revenge.

This is a pulse-pounding type of read; very fast-paced and with some very tense, nail-biting moments.  I think it started out a bit slow, but as I continued to read, I would likely have finished it in one sitting, I became so engrossed in the drama and intrigue.   Definitely a worthy read.

I have seen some reviews panning the writing (typos, grammatical errors, etc.), but I'm thinking that those reviewers may have read the first self-pubbed copy.  My copy went through a publisher and the editors there must have done a fine job, as I did not have any of those complaints.

All in all, I would totally recommend this one for lovers of thrillers who aren't afraid of a little grit.  There's even a touch of a really cool romance, and the friendships here are true-blue.  I really enjoyed this one.

QUOTES

It's like this place is draining and stealing souls.  
Balducci wants more production before he'll fork over benefits.  Yet there is more production than they're seeing.  Every single day so many boxes just up and disappear.  That extra nut would add a lot to both company profits and ammo for union benefits.

The fact that an hour ago his guys were sending me to hotdog heaven kinda leads one to the conclusion that something's not kosher in Kosher Word.  That being said, I think either I'm in or I'm out, and out probably means body parts filling Lily's locker.

Curtis says, "It's like a f**ing zombie movie here.  These guys don't know they're dead."

Writing:  4 out of 5 stars

Plot:   4 out of 5 stars

Characters:  4 out of 5 stars

Reading Immersion:  4.5 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:   4.25 out of 5 stars

Sensitive Reader:  Some profanity and at least one scene of violence that caused me as a reader to instinctively close my eyes.

BLOGGERS:  Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.

Author website

Read an excerpt (pdf)

If your browser doesn't support embedded video, you can view the trailer here.

BUY IT:  At Amazon, The Book Depository,  and through other on-and-off-line booksellers.

WIN IT:  Babs at PR by the Book was generous enough to offer up TWO copies to be won by my readers!  If you like a good, sometimes gritty, thriller, you'll definitely like this one!

HOW TO ENTER (Mandatory Entry):

1.  Comment:  Have you read any of Lori Foster's books or what is your favorite "steamy" type of romance title?  (that's what happens sometimes when you cut and paste)!   Leave a meaningful comment on this review; if you have a thriller to recommend, feel free to leave that as well AND include your email address kind of like this: user(at)domain(dot)com or something similar to prevent spambots from picking your email address up.

2.  Then scroll up to the form:  under "How to Enter" where it says "Leave a Blog Post Comment", click "I did this!" and fill out the little form that pops up there - make sure you use the email address you put in your comment.

YOU ONLY HAVE TO COMMENT FOR YOUR INITIAL ENTRY; you can use the form for all of your additional entries (extra entry options listed on the form)!  :)

Eligibility:  US/CANADA
End Date:  11:59 PM EST August 28, 2011

Disclosure:  I  received a  complimentary copy of this title from PR by the Book  to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.

Iron House by John Hart - BOOK REVIEW

Title:  Iron House 
Author:  John Hart
Publisher:   Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin's Press, a division of MacMillan
Release Date:  July 12, 2011
Hardcover, 352 pages
ISBN 10:    0312380348
ISBN 13:  9780312380342
The Book Depository / Amazon

#1 Indie NEXT list read for August!

Goodreads description:

When the old man is dead they will come for him.
And they will come for her, to make him hurt.

John Hart has written three New York Times bestsellers and won an unprecedented two back-to-back Edgar Awards. His books have been called “masterful” (Jeffery Deaver) and “gripping” (People) with “Grisham-style intrigue and Turow-style brooding” (The New York Times). Now he delivers his fourth novel—a gut-wrenching, heart-stopping thriller no reader will soon forget.

HE WOULD GO TO HELL

At the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, there was nothing but time. Time to burn and time to kill, time for two young orphans to learn that life isn’t won without a fight. Julian survives only because his older brother, Michael, is fearless and fiercely protective. When tensions boil over and a boy is brutally killed, there is only one sacrifice left for Michael to make: He flees the orphanage and takes the blame with him.

TO KEEP HER SAFE

For two decades, Michael has been an enforcer in New York’s world of organized crime, a prince of the streets so widely feared he rarely has to kill anymore. But the life he’s fought to build unravels when he meets Elena, a beautiful innocent who teaches him the meaning and power of love. He wants a fresh start with her, the chance to start a family like the one he and Julian never had. But someone else is holding the strings. And escape is not that easy. . . .

GO TO HELL, AND COME BACK BURNING

The mob boss who gave Michael his blessing to begin anew is dying, and his son is intent on making Michael pay for his betrayal. Determined to protect the ones he loves, Michael spirits Elena—who knows nothing of his past crimes, or the peril he’s laid at her door— back to North Carolina, to the place he was born and the brother he lost so long ago. There, he will encounter a whole new level of danger, a thicket of deceit and violence that leads inexorably to the one place he’s been running from his whole life: Iron House.

My Take: 

This is the type of book that makes me resort to "professional" reviewer language.

Taut - the prose is so tightly-woven that you could bounce a quarter off of it.

Gripping - could I put it down? No.

Suspenseful - you never know what's going to happen.  There were times when I thought I KNEW what had happened or what was going to happen or was even anxious about it.  I was wrong in a few cases where I thought I knew, and I could turn a page and be completely taken by surprise.

Romantic - (WHAT'S that you say?  A thriller with romance?) - Oh, yes, but not smarmy or explicit romance - Michael is the boyfriend we women all dream about (well, except for the killing people part) and all men want to be.  Elena is not a weeping violet, either - she is strong and beautiful and independent.

Emotional - The things that Michael and his brother Julian went through at the orphanage where they spent their early childhood ... what happens to Elena ... what we find out about how Michael ACTUALLY ended up being part of a crime syndicate ... the list DOES go on.

This is the type of read that defies it's genre .... it has elements that will appeal to all readers that love a good, action-filled, suspenseful, emotional type of read.  It pulls you in from the start and won't let you go until you've turned that last page and closed the cover.  It takes you on a roller-coaster ride, with its ups and downs and twists and turns.   It has wonderful, clear language - I could not find a weak link anywhere.

I usually don't put author info right into my review body, but in this case, I must:

John Hart is: "The only author in history to win the best novel Edgar Award for consecutive novels, John has also won the Barry Award and England's Steel Dagger Award for best thriller of the year."

I can see why.  He wields a mighty strong pen, and this is a mighty read.  Pick it up; pre-order it; get it at the library - but read it.

QUOTES (from an ARC; may be different in final copy):

"I don't want to kill you."
Jimmy put his hand on the knob.  "You think you can?"
He pushed the door wide, grinned.
And Michael went in to see the old man.

He did not know that the scars on the old man's feet came from rat bites in the crib, or that his missing fingers came from frostbite in the days before his mother died.  The old man spoke of those things only to Michael ...


"... Michael's not some random killer.  He's elegant, like Mozart would be if playing the piano was killing, like da Vinci if the Mona Lisa was body count.  He's a work of art, a genius, and I made him."

Writing:  5 out of 5 stars

Plot:   5 out of 5 stars

Characters:  5 out of 5 stars

Reading Immersion:   5 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:   5 out of 5 stars

Sensitive reader:  There are some scenes of violence.

BLOGGERS:  Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.

Author website

Read the first chapter


BUY IT:  At Amazon, The Book Depository, through the publisher's website,  and through other on-and-off-line booksellers.

 

This book is included in my list for the 2011 ARC Reading Challenge

Disclosure:  I  received a  complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through Shelf Awareness to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.

Dominance by Will Lavender - BOOK REVIEW

Title:  Dominance
Author:  Will Lavender
Publisher:   Simon and Schuster
Release Date:  July 5, 2011
Hardcover, 304 pages
ISBN 10:     1451617291
ISBN 13:  9781451617290
The Book Depository / Amazon

Back of the book description:

1994: Jasper College is buzzing with the news that famed literature professor Richard Aldiss will be teaching a special night class called Unraveling a Literary Mystery - from his prison cell.  Twelve years ago, Aldiss was convicted of the murders of two female grad students; they were killed with axe blows and their bodies decorated with the novels of notoriously reclusive author Paul Fallows. Even the most elite, obsessive Fallows scholars have never seen him.  He is like a ghost.

Now, Aldiss entreats the students of his night class to solve the Fallows riddle once and for all.  he introduces them to the Procedure, a game that supposedly lets one get inside the novels themselves, books which scholars believe are maps to the authors true identity.  Soon members of the night class will be invited to play along . . .

Present Day:  Alex Shipley, now a professor at Harvard, made her name as a member of Aldiss's night class.  She not only exposed the truth of Paul Fallow's identity, but in the process uncovered information that acquitted Aldiss of the heinous 1982 crimes.  But when a fellow night class alum is murdered - the body chopped up with an axe and surrounded by Fallows novels - can she use what she knows of Fallows and the Procedure to stop a killer before each of her former classmates is picked off, one by one?

My Take: 

In 1994, nine Honors Literature students are chosen to attend the class "Unraveling a Literary Mystery" at Jasper College.  The class will be distance-taught by Dr. Richard Aldiss from his home at the Rock Mountain Correctional Facility, where he is serving time for the 1982 murders of two female Dumant University graduate students.  There is no pre-published syllabus, and no one, outside of Aldiss himself, knows what the class will entail.

Paul Fallows is a reclusive novelist.  No one know his identity, and his books have spawned an intellectual game called "The  Procedure", where the players must reenact scenes from Fallows' novels perfectly.  The Procedure can happen anywhere, at any time, without any warning.

The class assignment:  Find Fallow's identity to find the REAL killer.

Alex Shipley, a former student in the class, one who was instrumental in freeing Aldiss from prison, is now a well-known Harvard professor, involved in a ho-hum relationship.  Another former student, Dr. Michael Tanner, who became the Jasper College resident modernist, is found dead in an apparent copycat of the Dumant murders.  Alex is called in by the interim dean at Jasper, Dr. Anthony Rice, who asks her to talk to Aldiss.  Is she to talk to him simply to get his take?  Or is he the killer?  If he IS the killer, was he actually really innocent of the previous murders?  Did she help free a killer to kill again?

As the 7 remaining students (another former student apparently killed himself a few years ago - or did he?) gather for Michael's memorial service, Alex finds herself suspicious of all of them.  Could one of them be the person who murdered Michael?

Dominance fluctuates between past and present, with many mysterious references to The Procedure long before this reader could figure out what The Procedure actually was - this is not a bad thing, as it was a sort of quest to figure it out.  Aldiss  - what an interesting character to read - he reads like Hannibal Lector (only without the "ummm ... brain is tasty" part).  He is very intelligent, and very creepy.  The book itself is rather a puzzle or even a maze - with many doors to open and corners to turn while reading.  It will keep you on your toes, and both past and present are equally interesting.

From what I've read, Mr. Lavender calls his novels "puzzle thrillers" - not quite thrillers OR mysteries, but a blend of both.  I would say that this description is very appropriate.  I was totally drawn in to this story (although frustrated a bit at not knowing for a while what The Procedure was), flipping pages almost as fast as I could read, wanting to know what happened next or who the killer was in each case.  Were they the same person?  THEN, towards the end, it started reading and feeling almost like Friday the 13th or Scream (the original ones where the tension is so high and you have no idea what's going to happen next, but without the blood and gore) - the bad guy/girl keeps popping up - but is it the same villain or different ones or is is more than one working together? - just a nail-biting type of read.

This title was my "Fave of the Week" when I read it.  If you like thrillers, mysteries, intellectual mysteries ... if you like a book that makes you feel as though you're solving a puzzle - this is the one for you.

QUOTES (from an ARC; may be different in final copy):

You have to believe that I had nothing to do with what is happening now in that house.  And also know this -
Alex's eyes ran over the rest of the notes, and when she saw what Aldiss had written next, her breach caught in her throat.
-the Procedure has begun.  Everything they say, everything you hear could be part of the game.  Trust no one.

Alex opened her mouth, wanted to say something, to tell her mother that this morning she would go off to a place she had never been, would board an airplane for only the third time in her life with someone who was still a stranger to her, and together the two of them would try to solve a twenty-year-old mystery.

"Is there any way Aldiss is innocent of the Dumant murders, Dr. Locke?"
Locke laughed.  "Impossible," he said.  "That man killed those two girls."

Writing:  5 out of 5 stars

Plot:  5 out of 5 stars

Characters: 4 out of 5 stars

Reading Immersion:  4.75 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:  4.7 out of 5 stars

BLOGGERS:  Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.

Read an excerpt

Author website

BUY IT:  At Amazon, The Book Depository, through the publisher's website,  and through other on-and-off-line booksellers.

 

This book is a listed title for my 2011 ARC Reading Challenge

Disclosure:  I  received a  complimentary copy of this title from the publisher to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.

The Summoner by Layton Green - BOOK REVIEW

Title: The Summoner 
Author:  Layton Green
Publisher:   CreateSpace

Paperback, 332 pages
ISBN 10:    144240339X
ISBN 13:  9781442403390
The Book Depository / Amazon

Goodreads description:

A United States diplomat disappears in front of hundreds of onlookers while attending a religious ceremony in the bushveld of Zimbabwe.

Dominic Grey, Diplomatic Security special agent, product of a violent childhood and a worn passport, is assigned to investigate. Aiding the investigation is Professor Viktor Radek, religious phenomenologist and expert on cults, and Nya Mashumba, the local government liaison.

What Grey uncovers is a terrifying cult older than Western civilization, the harsh underbelly of a country in despair, a demagogic priest seemingly able to perform impossibilities, and the identity of the newest target.

Himself.

The first work in a globe-hopping series whose protagonists investigate the world’s most bizarre and dangerous cults, The Summoner is a stylish, haunting novel of mystery and suspense that will linger long after the last page is turned.

My Take: 

In the poverty-stricken Harare of 2009, William Addition, the retired head of Consular Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe, has disappeared.

Dominic Grey, a Diplomatic Security agent with a dark past, is assigned to investigate the case.  He is paired with Nya Mashumba from Zimbabwe's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Professor Viktor Radek, who at almost 7' tall, is not your average professor.  Radek is an expert on cults and a professor of religious phenomenology at Charles University in Prague.

We soon find out that Addison attended an African religious ceremony, was drawn into the center of some sort of circle of smoke, and never came out.  Dominic and team's investigation reveals that the ceremony was an offshoot of the Yoruba religion, a religion which later evolved into Santeria/Voodoo.  The new evolution is Juju, but the new Juju is seen as an abomination by practitioners of Yoruba, involving human sacrifice and the calling of evil spirits.

As Dominic gets closer to the truth, he finds a warning in his bedroom:  a dead monkey, with it's eyes cut out and it's genitalia stuffed into it's mouth.  Now that it's personal, he's more determined than ever to get to the truth, even when he is told to call off his end of the investigation by his superiors.

The reader is lured into the world of seedy strip clubs and their owners, black marketers who can get any information for a price, and the N'anga, the eerie and mysterious priest who heads the Juju ceremonies.

Although this novel, as in most thrillers, is plot-driven, we do get some character insights and even a bit of romance.  I was completely drawn in and fascinated by the vivid descriptions of the country, and tried very hard to figure out who the N'anga was .. I was wrong, but getting there was a thrilling journey.  This is one that I would be surprised not to see scooped up by a publishing house, but even if it's not, it definitely deserves to be.

I'll be happy to see the next in the series, "The Egyptian", due out in August.  I'm hoping to see a lot more of one of the secondary characters, Victor Radek, who is interesting in his own right.  It seems as though he and Dominic will be working together, and I can't wait to see where their next adventure takes them.

QUOTE:

Juju was not just born out of fear - Juju thrived on fear - Juju was fear.

Writing:  4 out of 5 stars

Plot:   4.5 out of 5 stars

Characters:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Reading Immersion:  4.5 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:   4.1 out of 5 stars

BLOGGERS:  Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.

OTHER REVIEWS:

Book'd Out

Author website


Read an excerpt


BUY IT:  At Amazon, The Book Depository,  and through other on-and-off-line booksellers.  Also available in Kindle and eBook formats.

Disclosure:  I  received a  complimentary copy of this title from the author to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.

Dead of Wynter by Spencer Seidel - BOOK REVIEW/GIVEAWAY - 2 winners! - US/CAN through 6/7

Title:  Dead of Winter
Author:  Spencer Seidel
Publisher:   Publishing Works
Release Date:  May 1, 2011
Paperback, 272 pages
ISBN 10:    1935557696
ISBN 13:  9781935557692
The Book Depository / Amazon

Goodreads description:

“Dolly, it’s your mother.” Dolly. Jackie Ruth Wynter had called Alice that for years. The conversation that followed led her right back to the place she had run from for years. Her twin brother, younger by just a minute or so, had been fading, transforming into an image of their drunken, narrow-eyed father. Now her father was dead, and her brother, Chris, missing.

Alice resigns herself to return, helping her mother and the local police with the mystery surrounding the crime. But there are some family secrets her mother would sooner take to the grave than reveal.

Reacquainting with her past brings fresh pain and new friendships as she struggles with who to trust with the details of her father’s murder and brother’s disappearance. As the authorities come closer to solving the mystery of the men in her family, she begins to realize her past life as Alice Wynter is the missing part of the puzzle. But who is searching out the former Alice? The sinister mysteries of the Wynter family will capture the reader’s attention well past when the fire has gone out.

My Take: 

This novel opens with a bang as we meet Chris Wynter running through the woods from someone who died 25 years ago.

We then meet Alice Dunn (nee Wynter), a successful marketing executive in a seemingly loveless marriage of 18 years.  She "escaped" from the small Maine town where she grew up and is outwardly successful.  She tries not to think of her "Wynter" family - her father and brother, both drunks, and her jug wine-drinking, enabler mother.  She has put her past behind her, and intends to keep it there, including her memories of her psychopathic cousin Ray, and all of the damage he managed to do to both her and to her brother Chris.

Then she gets a telephone call.  Her father Papa Wynter is dead, apparently the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on a country road.  Her twin brother Chris is missing.  When Alice tells her husband Gerald that her father is dead, his only remark was that they were "getting low on coffee".  Anxious to leave her distant husband, and worried about her brother, Alice makes the trip to Redding, Maine to help her non-effective mother in this crisis and in the hope of finding her brother before it's too late. 

As the novel plays between the past and present of both Alice and Chris, many dark secrets come to light, most of them leading to the present.  Honestly, one of the things that happened when Chris was young almost brought me to tears.  For the most part, this novel is extremely fast-paced, and it was hard to put down after a certain point.

This is a thrilling mystery, with lots of suspense, some shocking moments, and a family drama that is well-drawn.  When I finally closed the pages, I thought, "This would make a great movie!"  It has that edge-of-your-seat feel to it; the kind that keeps you turning pages long after you should be asleep.  I loved it.

QUOTES

It was his eyes that made him seem so much more dangerous than usual.  They'd changed.  They were colder.  Meaner.  Something had awakened in Ray the night before, something that made a little voice in Chris's mind speak up and warn him about staying away from Ray.

"...You, with your fancy German car.  That fake accent of yours.  I bet you tell people you grew up in Massachusetts of Connecticut." 
Alice felt stripped bare naked.  Her mother had called her on her bullshit and gotten to the core of it.  In one lousy sentence.

Before Chris blacked out, he thought:  Ray is f__cking crazy. I mean really kill-me-in-my-sleep horror-movie crazy.  

Writing:  4.5 out of 5 stars

Plot:   5 out of 5 stars

Characters: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Reading Immersion:   5 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:   4.75 out of 5 stars

Sensitive Reader:  There are some graphic scenes of violence, sexual references, and profanity.

BLOGGERS:  Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.

Author Website

BUY IT:  At Amazon, The Book Depository, through the publisher's website,  and through other on-and-off-line booksellers.

WIN IT:  Erin at Meryl L. Moss Media Relations is generously providing two readers with their chance to win this title!

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End Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:59 PM EST

 

This book is included in my list for the 2011 ARC Reading Challenge

Disclosure:  I  received a  complimentary copy of this title from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.

Moondogs by Alexander Yates - BOOK REVIEW

Title:  Moondogs
Author:  Alexander Yates
Publisher:  Doubleday, a division of Random House
Release Date:  March 15, 2011
Hardcover, 352 pages
ISBN 10:     0385533780
ISBN 13:  9780385533782 
The Book Depository / Amazon

Goodreads description:

A singularly effervescent novel pivoting around the disappearance of an American businessman in the Philippines and the long-suffering son, jilted lover, slick police commissioner, misguided villain, and supernatural saviors who all want a piece of him.

Mourning the recent loss of his mother, twenty-some­thing Benicio—aka Benny—travels to Manila to reconnect with his estranged father, Howard. But when he arrives his father is nowhere to be found—leaving an irri­tated son to conclude that Howard has let him down for the umpteenth time. However, his father has actually been kid­napped by a meth-addled cabdriver, with grand plans to sell him to local terrorists as bait in the country’s never-ending power struggle between insurgents, separatists, and “demo­cratic” muscle.

Benicio’s search for Howard reveals more about his father’s womanizing ways and suspicious business deals, reopening the old hurts that he’d hoped to mend. Interspersed with the son’s inquiry and the father’s calamitous life in captivity are the high-octane interconnecting narratives of Reynato Ocampo, the local celebrity-hero policeman charged with rescuing Howard; Ocampo’s ragtag team of wizardry-infused soldiers; and Monique, a novice officer at the American embassy whose family still feels feverishly unmoored in the Philippines.

With blistering forward momentum, crackling dialogue, wonderfully bizarre turns, and glimpses into both Filipino and expat culture, the novel marches toward a stunning cli­max, which ultimately challenges our conventional ideas of family and identity and introduces Yates as a powerful new voice in contemporary literature.

My Take: 

A quirky, unusual tale where a cigarette-smoking rooster is one of the bad guys, a band of bruhos (witches) nicknamed Task Force Ka-Pow are an arm of the good guys (or are they?), and a movie star whose fame is based on the real life of the leader of Task Force Ka-Pow is elected as a senator.  Mix them with the kidnapping of a wealthy American national whose son comes to the Phillipines to visit him before anyone knows he's been kidnapped, a prostitute named Solita who claims her son June is the American's son, and an acting foreign service chief who may have her own bruha powers, and you have a tale that is wildly imaginative and inventive, with action and dialogue that will keep you turning pages.

There are lots of characters here, but the author does such a wonderful job at giving us solid introductions to each of them  that as you're reading, the connections between all of the individual stories begin to form, and each slice of each character is entertaining on it's own.  You're never quite sure what's going to come next, and the turn of a page can lead you to another surprise.

I'll bet you haven't read anything quite like this before.  This is a wonderful debut novel, and I'll be looking forward to much more from Mr. Yates.

QUOTES (from an ARC; may be different in final copy):

The men on Efrem's island agreed that he'd been sent by God - sent for a reason.  The Holy Man, someone who knew a lot about God, said it first.   Efrem would take the world apart, so they could build it better.  The gift was nothing to be afraid of.  The angel of death was still an angel.


It takes a moment for the pain to register, because his ear couldn't have just been sliced off.  It's his ear.  Ignacio staunches the bleeding with a dishcloth and crams the cloth into Howard's mouth to stop him screaming.  Because he's screaming now.  Because his ear's been cut off.


...Benicio really started crying.  He wasn't even embarrassed about it, he just cried.  Because this was so f---ing awful.  Because somebody had hurt his father.  They'd probably hurt him badly.  And they would maybe kill him. And his father's best hope for being rescued was this guy, who, let's face it, was looking more and more like a maniac.

Writing:  5 out of 5 stars

Plot:   5 out of 5 stars

Characters:  5 out of 5 stars

Reading Immersion:  5 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:  5 out of 5 stars

Sensitive reader:  This one may not be for you.  There are some scenes of violence, as well as some profanity (in context).

BLOGGERS:  Have you reviewed this book? If so, please feel free to leave a link to your review in the comments section; I will also add your link to the body of my review.

Read an excerpt

BUY IT:  At Amazon, The Book Depository, through the publisher's website,  and through other on-and-off-line booksellers.

 

This book is listed as one of my titles for the 2011 ARC Reading Challenge

Disclosure:  I  received a  complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through Shelf Awareness to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.