Required Reading

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Books I have authored.

Many times I receive books for FREE to give them an honest review. I do not get paid to give a good or bad review. Spotlights are promotional and should be regarded as advertising for the book spotlighted. Regardless of where or how I got a book, my review will be as honest as I can make it.

Monday, July 30, 2018

A Measure of Darkness by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman

 

Clay Edison is a deputy coroner.   He is reputed to be nosy and tenacious.   Those qualities show as he pursues possible perpetrators in a house party that end in violence.

This is a who done it with secondary who done its buried in the main who done it. Multiple story lines provide a complex plot that demands you pay attention.   A free range school provides the gist of one of the subplots.

This was an entertaining book with some philosophizing on the nature of education.

I enjoyed it.



This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

The Typist by Caroline Taylor




Persevere!  My initial reaction to this book was it was slowwwww!  However I persevered and I ended up really enjoying it.   A young woman from the mid-west goes to Washington D.C. to work in the sixties.   She is both naïve and experienced.   A criminal father used her as a foil as a child.  A bible-thumping mother engendered guilt as her daily entrée.   Judah ends up working at an insurance agency that appears to harbor a secret.

Judah will drive you crazy with her naïveté and yet she has a strength of character that is admirable.  It is important to remember the time in which the story is set.   Although the emotions Judah express often seem to be a decade earlier than the sixties. 

The story plods but comes together and ends satisfyingly.

I recommend the book.

Web: http://www.carolinestories.com/about.html

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Friday, July 20, 2018

Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay


Strange book.  Andrew, Eric and Wen are vacationing in a remote cabin when they are visited by a weird group of people.  The resulting interplay of mayhem and violence is the crux of the plot.

The weird people are called by some unknown entity, possibly God, possibly an alien or maybe an Internet Troll.   They arrive and try and convince Eric and Andrew to do something that they find inconceivable.   This is one of those book that is hard to describe without a spoiler.

The book was interesting but left me unfulfilled as to the source of the aberrant behavior.

I recommend.

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Sunday, July 15, 2018

Allinji, A Woman of Sumeria by Hugh Bowen


This is a historical novel.   The main character is a renaissance type woman living 2100 to 2000 BC in an area of Iraq called Sumeria.   Her home city and the capital of a loose affiliation of nation states was UR.   The author starts with an actual historic trip of his own mother to Iraq in the 1930s.   This leads to his mother meeting a woman named Allinji who purports to be the descendent of the Allinji of the book title.  

The author paints Allinji as a warrior scientist with political skills.   She implements women’s rights and champions education but is also ruthless and deadly.   The book was interesting and after doing some research seems accurate as to the innovations introduced in that time period.  

I was a bit disappointed that the author did not come full circle with Allinji’s tale and abruptly ended the story.   I think a wrap up would make it more palatable to the average reader. 

I did enjoy the book.


This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Dead Zero by Stephen Hunter


Bob Lee Swagger a Vietnam Vet, an alcoholic, a sniper and a hunter battling PTSD is back.   Bob is old now, and feels like he is out of the game.   He is not!   Being old myself,  I found reassurance that an old guy can still kick some butt.   An operation gone bad leads to sniper, Ray Cruz, questing for justice on his own.

A hallmark of Hunter is action.  This book has it in spades.   A team of mercenaries with a skewed code of valueless morals is tasked to kill Ray Cruz.   Bob Lee and the FBI’s Nick Memphis are on the line trying to determine if Ray Cruz is a hero or villain. 

Once again a highly violent and captivating novel with an interesting and surprising reveal

.

I highly recommend.

Web: http://www.stephenhunter.net/
This is not an official website.


This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Thursday, July 5, 2018

The Coffin Dancer by Jeffrey Deaver.



I’m considering titling my reviews Devious Deaver.  The man is a master at mis-direction.  Just when I think I have the plot figured out, he does a u-turn.   I love it!
Lincoln Rhyme is a shadow of his past self but his mind is still tack smart.   A contract killer is eliminating witnesses.  Lincoln and his side kick Amelia are trying to stop him.

Deaver does a very good job on constructing his characters.   They are often likeable and terrifying.  He doesn’t hesitate to throw one of them under the bus if it promotes the plot.

I really enjoyed the book and recommend it.  

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.