Real Murders

This book was also recommended by my local library and even though it was written some time ago, I thought that I would give it a try. The premise was interesting with a club called "Real Murders" in which people gathered monthly to look at true crimes and discuss the details of a particular case, but there is a murder at the VFW hall where their meeting is and everyone becomes a suspect. Several more murders take place and it is clear that the killer or killers are copying old crimes.

This is the first book that I have read by Charlaine Harris and I thought that it was fairly well written. It kind of reminded me of "Murder She Wrote" even though the main character, Aurora, is a great deal younger than the Jessica Fletcher character of the former. Harris does a fairly decent job at developing her main character Aurora, but almost borderlines with stereotyping her as a librarian that eventually lets her hair down to be adventurous. The story also moved along quite steadily and did not seem to have too many awkward pauses, but there were some editing issues that should have been resolved before print. I also felt that with it being in first person point of view, the story did not suffer from lack of information either with regards to the crimes. In that respect, it was very developed.

Sadly, the overall feel of the book was rather dull. There were quite a few characters introduced in the book and not all of them were needed. Harris develops some that should be left in the shadows and then skips over others that should be more fleshed out. There is also the unnecessary love triangle between Aurora, Arthur the detective, and Robin the writer. I wish that Harris would have chosen one of them to be the main love interest and then explore that a little more in the book. There just seemed to be several sub plots that were not important and made the whole book drag on as it was being read.

However, I did find the overall theme of the book intriguing and therefore would recommend it to individuals that enjoy mysteries of the 1990's. However, if you like more streamline mystery novels where you are constantly asking why the main character doesn't just use their cell phone to call the police, then this novel would not be for you.

Rating: 2 out 5

I borrowed this book from my local library; I was not asked to do a review of this book.

The image was taken from Good Reads.

The Fate of Mercy Alban

This book was on the recommended list at my local library. Since I found it quite intriguing, I checked it out and was able to finish it within a night. It was a simple read that had wonderful potential to be an amazing mystery, but sadly fell short with respect to structure and plot.

What I liked about the book was that Wendy Webb was able to create several characters that I truly wanted to like and learn more about. The main character Grace struggled with wanting to be free of her family's history, but at the same needs that family's pull in the small town where she grew up when a series of deaths and unfortunate events start happening. Webb introduces a sweet minister from the church about a mile from her family's home that is instantly likeable, almost reads like the boy next door. The house itself is also a character rich in the history of how it was built with the backstory of a curse passed on from the harvested wood it was created from.

However, the story itself suffered from several issues. In terms of story editing, it ended and began with third person point of view, but the main part of the story is told in first person point of view. This is one of my biggest pet-peeves. The point of view cannot change several times within the story. It is either all third person or all first person. I suppose I am a little old-fashioned in that respect, but that is how it should be. Secondly, the reality of the storyline seemed a little off. A minister jumping into bed with the main character so quickly in the book seemed rather unlikely, especially since the religious views of Grace were not well established. Thirdly, the reading of the unpublished novel within the novel did not work for me. It was very dull in spots with this addition and seemed to make the story slow down greatly. Lastly, it seemed like the actual "ghost story" was kind of lost or skipped over because of the found unpublished novel. It would have be far more interesting to give a little more background on Grace's grandmother and her Irish or Celtic magical roots. I wanted more of that part of Grace's history and of the backstory of her aunts.

Overall, it was a good attempt at a campy ghost story. It reminded me of something that one might tell around a campfire with friends about a cursed house and how those that lived there once had never been heard from again. I really wanted to like this story and parts of it I did. If you are looking for a new take on a ghost story that gives you all the thrill rides of a murder mystery, then you will probably want to skip this one. But if you are someone who enjoys a campy ghost story that gets its point across without explaining everything in detail, then you may want to pick this book up some dark and stormy night.

Rating: 2 out of 5

I borrowed this book from my local library; I was not asked to do a review of this book.

The image was taken from Good Reads.

Willful Behavior

I have never read a novel by Donna Leon and so was unfamiliar with the length series that this book was a part of. However, I don't think that you would be lost if you were to pick up this book like I did and start reading in the middle of the series about this Detective Brunetti.

For me this was an VERY slow read. I am not certain if it was intentional by Leon because that is what the Italian lifestyle is like or if it was an unfortunate outcome of the plot itself. It was really hard to keep my focus and I found myself putting the book down for several days and then picking it back up only to repeat this process.

In terms of the characters and Italy, it was exquisitely written. The description was wonderful and it felt like I was really walking the streets of Italy, embracing their culture, and experiencing a place that I am not familiar with. Leon gives great descriptions of the characters as well and it feels as if the Detective and the reader are old friends.

Unfortunately, the plot didn't really work for me. I found myself not really invested in the murder of Detective Brunetti' wife's student. The only thing that kept me reading was to find out why she was murdered for my own personal interest. It seemed like even Leon was tired of writing it about halfway through and perhaps that is why it dragged. There were still a few twists while trying to solve the murder, but it read more like a travel book documenting the Italian lifestyle than as a murder mystery.

Overall, this novel had great descriptions, but it was a very slow read and dragged on. I think that many individuals who have already read the previous books in the series will love this book. However, if you are a newcomer like myself, I recommend starting with the first book in the series before taking this one on.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

I borrowed this book from a local library; I was not paid or asked to do a review of this book.

The image was taken from Good Reads.

Daughters of Twilight

It is rare that I come across a book that I just cannot put down and read well into the night, but this book was one of them. The premise is what interested me from the beginning; a possible war with angels here in Iowa. However, even though I was interested enough to read this almost all in one night, it did not deliver everything that I had imagined it would.

What I really thought that Collette Jackson-Fink did well was with regards to description of the surroundings and of the characters. The angels were incredibly detailed with their beauty and the way that they were able to move/fight. I found myself transfixed, wondering exactly what it would have been like to be in their presence. The men that were fighting against them, some under false pretense, were your garden variety military personnel. Jackson-Fink does try to give each of them a unique quirk or characteristic to set them apart from one another, but sometimes they still seemed a little type-casted. What I really loved were the descriptions of the black pyramid, especially the secret place the angels take the main character Dane to.

Most of the issues I had were simple editing or revision errors. There were many sentences that started with "He, his, they" and that made the paragraphs seem to read a little awkward at times. Some of the dialogue was a little confusing at times with missing quotations and some strange spacing issues. I think that there were two areas within the storyline that I felt if the author had fleshed out a little more, the story would have been a little more complete feeling. One was when an angle "tasted the truth" in the blood of the wounded Dane. I didn't quite understand how that worked. How did the angel taste truth? Seemed relatively abstract and wasn't very concrete. The other issue I had dealt with how the angels "remake" or "transform" their life mates. It seemed to be something that was talked about more than once, but when it came time for it to happen in the book, it was only a paragraph long. It didn't really explain how it happened, which is what I really wanted to know. The last issue I had was that the novel seemed to wrap every loose end up when it was finished. I think that I like to have a little bit of the storyline end not so neat to keep me thinking. Sometimes that "what ifs?" are sometimes more important to me than tying everything up in the end completely.

Overall, I thought that this was a very good novel. The religious undertone was what really drew me to it and it kept me interested all the way to the end. I would recommend this book to just about anyone who likes religious suspense fiction. However, if you are not a fan of having everything tied up neatly in the end and know that will bother you, I would suggest skipping this book for the moment, but it would be shame to miss out on this one.

Rating: 3 out of 5

I was given a copy of the book by the author; I was not paid to do this review.

The image was taken from Good Reads.

The Shogun's Daughter

 

 I finished this book a few days ago and I have to say, that I still wonder and think about this story. It seems to have lingered and there are not many books I have read that do that for me. Laura Joh Rowland has created an amazing tale full of mystery and Eastern martial arts magic that I found alluring. This was the first historical fiction book I have read from the Tokugawa era in Japan and I was not disappointed in the least.

Rowland did an excellent job at describing this foreign era in such detail it was as if I was watching a motion picture within my own mind. I have always been a sucker for a man with a code of honor and the main character Sano has one of the highest, the code of the Samurai. He was given the task of finding out if someone had intentionally killed the Shogun's daughter with smallpox. This would prove to be even more difficult to accomplish once his arch rival puts himself in a position to rule Japan now that the only legitimate heir to the throne is dead. Sano's morals will be tested even further once the Shogun turns his back on him after he is accused of murdering the heir apparent, a young man who is said to be the son of the Shogun and one of his former concubines. The story will keep you turning pages to find out what has happened and who is responsible for both deaths within the Shogun's family. (As a side note, I could not put this book down and read well into the night to finish it. That was how hooked I was!).

The one part of this book that I was a little unsure of its relevance to the overall story was a secondary plot that dealt with the magical side of martial arts. Rowland introduced a character by the name of Hirata who was at one point one of Sano's retainers and had a high place amongst his ranks. But then something changes for Hirata and he joins a secret society of three other men. Once he realizes that rituals they are preforming awaken a ghost general that wants revenge against the Shogun's family, he runs off to try to save his family and to make things right. Rowland did not really develop this storyline very in depth and I have to say even now I am a little curious as to why it was there and for what purpose. This book ended with Hirata's story taking a strange turn and I find myself wondering if it is to set up the next novel or if I missed something from within its mystical pages.

Other than that, I thought that this book was extremely well written. The story flowed from one chapter to the next, tempting me and dazzling me with exotic riches I have never experienced. One area that I felt a slight disconnect with the era would be in the dialogue. Some of the phrases used seemed more modern and didn't seem to fit within this place and time, but it did not deter from the the wonderful mystery being told. I will say that I was able to figure out who was behind the two murders within the Shogun's family relatively quickly, but was so invested in the tale being told by Rowland to be disappointed too much by that.

Overall, I would think that anyone that loves historical fiction set in the time of the Samurai with a wonderful twist of murder conspiracy should very much enjoy this book. If you are not big into historical fiction and prefer your murder mysteries to be a little more closer to the present, then you probably would want to skip this one.

Rating: 4 out of 5

I borrowed this book from my local library; I was not asked to do a review of this book.

The image was taken from www.goodreads.com

Daughter Cell

 * Jay Hartlove did an interview with me and that will be posted under the "Author Interviews" tab on this blog. *

Possible Spoiler Alert within the review below.

When I was first asked to consider this book for review, I was very intrigued due to my science background. The thought that someone's soul could be altered into someone else or not even exist because of genetic manipulation was extremely interesting. This book is the second in the Isis Rising Trilogy by Jay Hartlove and I have not had the chance to read the first one as of yet, but do not necessarily think that the story was hard to follow because of that.

While I enjoyed the thought process behind the science, I was a little disappointed with respect to the end result. Hartlove must have done a great deal of research to get the scientific language just right within the pages of this book, but I had a hard time wrapping my mind around how introducing a virus with new genetic material could alter the person's appearance relatively quickly. There wasn't an explanation for this. Does the DNA being introduced need to be from an individual that is relatively the same size and shape as the individual it is being injected into? What about introducing DNA across genders? How would that work in regards to a person's appearance and how much pain would be involved on the patient whose DNA is being manipulated? There were just too many unaddressed questions for my liking. However, I will say that it is a very thought provoking book and that is something that I do like very much. 

The other issue that I had with respect to the DNA manipulation was that the "soul altering" book cover blurb wasn't really addressed. There were a few moments at the end of the book where Hartlove tried to explain it, but it felt unresolved and open ended. Perhaps that was the author's true intention, to make the reader think about the prospect of how altering DNA could create a completely different soul in a person who already has one.

In terms of his characters, I thought that emotional development of the main character Randolph was very well developed. His grief over the loss of his wife and the possible upcoming loss of his daughter that was now in a coma was very heartfelt by the reader. However, I had a hard time believing his reaction to some of the situations that he found himself in. When he woke up after four months of being blacked-out, I do not think that I would have been as calm or collected as he was. Even after my best friend and business partner came walking out of the other room, I would still have freaked out completely. Some of the explanations for different complications Randolph had throughout the story given to him by his partner seemed hard to believe as well and I began to reassess the validity of the overall storyline.

The one thing that I was expecting was that Sanantha Mauwad, the psychiatrist and character that the series is based around, would have been a bigger part of the overall book. But that was not the case and she was written in a supporting role, which was disappointing for me. I did not get a very good feel for her as a character and would have liked a little more development into her Voodoo belief system. Perhaps this development was done in the first book in the series and was not expanded on here in this book. Overall, I would have liked more of her and less of some of the other characters.

Lastly, the villain and the type of Chi Black Magic that he used seemed odd to me. I do not know much about that Eastern tradition of Chi or the dark Chi magic that he apparently used, but I had a hard time believing that he would be able to kill someone with a single thought or that he could control anyone with thought. His identity seemed very apparent to me almost from the get go, which also was a little disappointing. I like it when the authors make me work a little to figure things out. 

Overall, this book had a decent storyline that flowed relatively smoothly from one chapter to the next. There seemed to be a good mix of different types of characters and an intriguing plot that made me want to keep turning the pages. I think that there were some areas that should have been expanded on and maybe some other issues that could have been dealt with a little differently. 

If you enjoy books that keep you asking questions and have a slight Michael Crichton scientific undertone to them, then this book may be something you should check out. If you need all the questions your mind begins to ask answered at the conclusion of the book, then you might want to skip this one.

Rating: 3 out of 5

I was given a copy of this by the author via Bostic Communications; I was not paid to give this review.

The image was taken from www.goodreads.com

Three Rules VIrtual Book Blog Tour

 

Three Rules by Marie Drake

Book website:  http://www.mariedrake.com/three-rules-by-marie-drake

Sales Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Rules-ebook/dp/B00F0OO6WO

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Rules-Marie-Drake/dp/1492772909/

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/three-rules-marie-drake/1116852473?ean=9781492772903

Copyright Marie Drake

Pages: 296

Genre: Fiction, Suspense

Three Rules - The Blurb:

 Hope Wellman has a childhood full of horrific memories, a bone chilling recurring nightmare, and a persistent paranoid sense of being followed that she would rather keep repressed. Is evil reaching from beyond the grave to capture the tattered remnants of her soul once and for all, is it only a machination of her disturbed mind, or is there something happening more sinister than even she can imagine?

 Attending the funeral of her abuser is the first step in putting her life back together. She struggles with the fact she never told anyone what happened to her, and that the grave they are mourning over is empty. She'd find it a lot easier to move on and believe in the future if he were in the box, ready to be covered with dirt. She fears the last thread of her sanity has snapped when she sees Lucas everywhere she turns, and can't escape a recurring nightmare. Is her tormentor alive, or is she imagining it? Is her dream triggered by past fears or is it a prediction of the future?

Quoted from Three Rules:

 “I have learned three rules in my life: 1.) The most dangerous people in the world are not always strangers. 2.) The scariest things imaginable are not those that can kill you, but those you can live through. And probably the most prominent: 3.) The most horrible possibility is not what could happen to you, but what you could become – I became a killer.”

~Hope Wellman