The Master Sniper by Stephen Hunter

This is a stand alone and has no Swaggers in it.   The book takes place at the end of WWII.  The plot involves a Nazi sniper and those attempting to stop his attempted mission.

The details of the concentration camps are as depressing and horrific as usual.   There is no understanding of how supposed civilized beings stooped so low.  It really shows the depth of depravity that prejudice can engender. 

Hunter, as usual, provides a story that captivates and always has a plot twist that surprises.  

I recommend 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.

Born to Be Wild by Catherine Coulter

This is a book about a soap opera star and is probable classified as a romance.   I’m being up front here, I use avoid any book that has a male on the cover with a shirt open to his waste throwing a scantily attired female over his brawny shoulder.  I just don’t read them.   Well the cover didn’t have any of that and I got sucked into reading this, in spite of it being a romance.   It is a romance with a thin layer of mystery over it.   Mary Lisa is a successful soap opera star who is being stalked.   Jack Wolf, who in spite of his name is not in show business, is the chief of police where she grew up.  His past experience with a nasty ex-wife and a felony type prank by Mary Lisa tends to make them adversaries.

I enjoyed the book, sad to say, really, but I did enjoy it.   There was enough characterization, mystery and plot to make it entertaining.   I STILL don’t read romances. 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer

Milo Weaver is back.  This is the second book of the trilogy, the first being The Tourist, review to be found on Pick of the Literate on 10/19/20.  Milo is again a tourist and not the obvious kind.  He is a CIA tourist which is a secret group withing the CIA which seems to handle many of the black bag operations.   Milo is tasked to do something he finds morally repugnant and true to the clandestine methods of his job, he hides his disobedience.  The results fuel the plot.

The author has his main protagonist, Milo, re-evaluating his life and his morals.   Steinhauer clearly shows the devastating impact a life of lies has on the liar and his family.  

Steinhauer writes a devious plot with many twists, I enjoyed 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. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

The Devil’s Workshop by Stephen J. Cannell

This is really not the best time to be reading a book that deals with bio-terrorism.   Covid-19 may not have been a weapon but it is changing our world.   Cannell postulates a scenario where the federal government is running a black program to create genetically targeted bio-weapons.

Stacy, a USC grad student, finds herself searching for the cause of her  husband’s alleged suicide.   She doesn’t believe for a minute that he committed suicide.

Cris, Lucky, is a down and out hobo, riding the rails and drinking himself into insensibility and oblivion.  The loss of his child has fueled his self-destructiveness.

These two unlikely candidates find themselves partnering with Buddy Brazil, a flamboyant and enormously insecure Hollywood producer to stop a white supremacist group from making a bio-terror attack.

Gripping comes to mind as, perhaps, the most descriptive term for this book.   Some of our current events made it difficult to put this book down.

I 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.

Robert B. Parker's Someone to Watch Over Me by Ace Atkins

Ace Atkins isn’t Robert Parker but he is pretty good.   It seemed like having Spenser periodically using quotes was overly contrived.  In my opinion, Atkins writes a good story but was trying to hard to emulate Parker.   Regardless, it was an entertaining book.   Spenser jumps in to aid his protégé, Maggie.   Maggie has stumbled into a pedophilic situation where wealth and privilege are preventing any type of prosecution.

The characters were familiar, the interplay between Hawk and Spenser wasn’t quite as biting and sharp as I recall.  There were few times I laughed out loud where as with Parker, the repartee often was the main stay of the relationship.  

I give Atkins credit, trying to emulate another author’s style has got to be hard, overall he did a good job and I enjoyed 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.

The Forgotten Room by Lincoln Child

This story focuses on a reclusive think tank in a spooky old mansion.   There is a secret that is negatively impacting the researchers. Jeremy Logan is called in to find and solve the problem.

Child crafts an old turn of the last century mansion.   Towers, turrets and obelisks as well as a sprawling confusion of rooms provides the setting for the book.

Logan discovers a decades old secret and some of the people who help him suffer dire consequences.  

This was a good mystery and I 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.