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Review – Shadow Man – Cody McFadyen

05 Jul

Shadow Man
Author: Cody McFadyen
Series: #1 in the Smoky Barrett

Narrator: Kate Reading
Run Time: 13 hours, 14 minutes

Book Description
Once, Special Agent Smoky Barrett hunted serial killers for the FBI. She was one of the best–until a madman terrorized her family, killed her husband and daughter, and left her face scarred and her soul brutalized. Turning the tables on the killer, Smoky shot him dead–but her life was shattered forever.

Now Smoky dreams about picking up her weapon again. She dreams about placing the cold steel between her lips and pulling the trigger one last time. Because for a woman who’s lost everything, what is there left to lose?

She’s about to find out.

In all her years at the Bureau, Smoky has never encountered anyone like him–a new and fascinating kind of monster, a twisted genius who defies profilers’ attempts to understand him. And he’s issued Smoky a direct challenge, coaxing her back from the brink with the only thing that could convince her to live.

The killer videotaped his latest crime–an act of horror that left a child motherless–then sent a message addressed to Agent Smoky Barrett. The message is enough to shock Smoky back to work, back to her FBI team. And that child awakens something in Smoky she thought was gone forever.

Suddenly the stakes are raised. The game has changed. For as this deranged monster embarks on an unspeakable spree of perversion and murder, Smoky is coming alive again–and she’s about to face her greatest fears as a cop, a woman, a mother…and a merciless killer’s next victim.

Review
I’ll have to admit, at first when I started listening to Shadow Man, I was skeptical. The first hour or so that I listened to, I was a bit confused over what was going on but that soon changed. I was glad that I was listening to this at work, because I could easily stop when I was at a more suspenseful part and take a break (aka, go and bug my co-workers) before resuming the listening. The author has a way with his writing that made me feel as though I was with Smoky as she was dealing with the crimes perpetrated by the killer. In this instance, I had an inkling of who I thought the killer was, but nothing was clear up until the final reveal and then it was a definate ah-ha moment.

I enjoyed Kate Reading’s narration – to my knowledge, I don’t think that I have ever listened to anything that she has narrated before. I know that I will def. look out for more stuff done by her in the future and will be continuing this series for sure (I already have the next one on my queue at booksfree.com). I would likely never have picked up this book to listen to if it hadn’t show up on the list of books that readers who enjoyed Vanish (Tess Gerritsen) also enjoyed and I am glad that I did.

 
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Posted by on July 5, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – Redemption – Olivia Duncan Craig

04 Jul


Redemption
Author: Olivia Duncan Craig

Book Description
It’s a different world. Space has been colonized, the wealthy fly to work rather than drive, and slavery is legal.
Jason’s family has been ripped apart by tragedy. The only way he can save the ones left is to offer himself up as a bondmate. The more he’s willing to give, the higher the price he can command. And Jason is willing to give a lot.

Devin is wealthy and heartbroken after the wife he adored walked out on him. He isn’t looking for love. All he wants is a relationship he can control. Buying a bondmate seems like the perfect solution.

Yet when he purchases Jason’s contract, Devin gets more than he bargained for.

Review
Redemption is one of those books that if it had never shown up as a potential book in a reading bingo challenge (lesser known m/m books), I likely never would have picked it up and that would have been a pity. It is a book that makes me want to go out and keep trying self-published authors, because the quality of the writing and the presentation of the book were top-notch. I felt like I was reading a book that has been released through one of the bigger publishing houses.

When I was first asking people about what book I should pick (I had it narrowed down to this one and 2 others), I was told that it was a book with slavery and non-con scenarios, so when I started to read it, I was expecting something a lot harsher than what I ended up reading. Truthfully, it was rather sweet. There is slavery in the world, but the individuals enter into it through their own choice and then there are pairings made that seem to be very similar to being on match.com or chemistry.com (something like that).

I will definately be stalking this author for future books and can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. 3.5 stars (but I am really tempted to round up to 4).

 
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Posted by on July 4, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – A Book of Tongues – Gemma Files

20 Jun

A Book of Tongues
Author: Gemma Files
Narrator: Gordon Mackenzie
Length: 10 hours 58 minutes

Review Copy provided by audiobook producer as part of Audiobook Jukebox Solid Gold Reviewer program

Book Description:
Two years after the Civil War, Pinkerton agent Ed Morrow has gone undercover with one of the weird West’s most dangerous outlaw gangs-the troop led by “Reverend” Asher Rook, ex-Confederate chaplain turned “hexslinger,” and his notorious lieutenant (and lover) Chess Pargeter. Morrow’s task: get close enough to map the extent of Rook’s power, then bring that knowledge back to help Professor Joachim Asbury unlock the secrets of magic itself.

Magicians, cursed by their gift to a solitary and painful existence, have never been more than a footnote in history. But Rook, driven by desperation, has a plan to shatter the natural law that prevents hexes from cooperation, and change the face of the world-a plan sealed by an unholy marriage-oath with the goddess Ixchel, mother of all hanged men. To accomplish this, he must raise her bloodthirsty pantheon from its collective grave through sacrifice, destruction, and apotheosis.

Caught between a passel of dead gods and monsters, hexes galore, Rook’s witchery, and the ruthless calculations of his own masters, Morrow’s only real hope of survival lies with the man without whom Rook cannot succeed: Chess Pargeter himself. But Morrow and Chess will have to literally ride through Hell before the truth of Chess’s fate comes clear-the doom written for him, and the entire world.

Review
It was like book serendipity when this book showed up as a review copy on AudiobookJukebox. The previous weekend, I had been at a get-together for one of my Goodreads groups and one of the people there was talking about this book and how she highly recommended it. I went ahead and bought it on my kindle and then as I was browing audiobook jukebox, I saw it up for review and thought what the heck, why not ask for a copy and see what happens.

The premise of the book itself was intriguing, the historical setting with the use of Pinkerton agents, mixed in with hex-slingers so the magical aspect and then the GLBT factor of the 2 main characters made for some entertaining listening. I have to say in all my time of listening to audiobooks, this is the first time that I have actually listened to anything featuring m/m romance and I’m pretty sure that my face was probably an interesting shade of red at some points during the listening.

The use of a character who had previously been a reverend and his use of biblical passages scattered through-out provided an interesting theme, and you could tell that the author had done her research and had picked what appeared to be appropriate passages for various phases of the book. However, towards the end, my mind was starting to wander and it felt like overall, some editing and maybe paring down of the book would have been good – even if it had only been a few pages to tighten up the storyline.

This was also the first time that I had ever listened to Gordon McKenzie narrated and I actually went into his narration cold. I tried looking on my normal sources for audiobooks to see if I could get a voice sample, but apparently on that day my computer just decided to not like me and wouldn’t let me do a preview. But I don’t regret it for a minute. I really enjoyed his narration and felt that I could easily identify all the various characters that appeared through-out. I loved the voice of Jess that he came up with and he was probably the most entertaining voice of all of them. I will definately be on the look-out for more books narrated by him in the future.

The production, done by Iambik Audio, was also high quality and I have no complaints about the product received. It was nice to see that the product was easy to download and nicely priced. I’m looking forward to getting the next books in the trilogy.

 
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Posted by on June 20, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – I am Forbidden – Anouk Markovits

15 Jun

I am Forbidden
Author: Anouk Markovits

Book Description:
A family is torn apart by fierce belief and private longing in this unprecedented journey deep inside the most insular sect of Hasidic Jews, the Satmar.
Opening in 1939 Transylvania, five-year-old Josef witnesses the murder of his family by the Romanian Iron Guard and is rescued by a Christian maid to be raised as her own son. Five years later, Josef rescues a young girl, Mila, after her parents are killed while running to meet the Rebbe they hoped would save them. Josef helps Mila reach Zalman Stern, a leader in the Satmar community, in whose home Mila is raised as a sister to Zalman’s daughter, Atara. With the rise of communism in central Europe, the family moves to Paris, to the Marais, where Zalman tries to raise his children apart from the city in which they live. Mila’s faith intensifies, while her beloved sister Atara discovers a world of books and learning that she cannot ignore.

Review
Aside from reading some Chaim Potok back in high school, as well as Night by Eli Weisel, I have really not read a lot of fiction books in the past where religion, and specifically Judaism, play a huge role. However, after seeing I am Forbidden show up as a highlighted book on goodreads, as well as on another website, I was intrigued enough to pick it up.

Words can’t really describe how much I enjoyed the book, as well as how much I learnt from it. While I had heard of the Hasidic sect of Judaism before, I had never heard of the Satmar’s which is a movement within the Hasidic branch. The majority of Satmar jews come from the Hungarian/Romanian part of the world and many were Holocaust survivors. The book itself, started off in Romania during World War 2, followed the Stern family to Paris where the majority of Mila’s (one of the Stern daughters) takes place and then travels to Williamsburg (in New York, not Virginia, like I was expecting), when Mila Stern marries Josef. There was so much detail about life in a Satmar household, that a simple book review cannot cover it all. From the preparations that a woman goes though when she gets her period, traditions governing wedding night protocal and so many other glimpses into the daily life.

It came of no surprise to me, when I read the brief bio of the author on the dust-cover of the book, that she grew up in a Satmar household and then left when she was 19. As a reader, following this discovery, I had to wonder if she had modelled any of the characters on her family, whether Atara (Mila’s sister) was supposed to represent her in some form. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about Judaism as a whole, as well as the various movements within. As well as anyone that is looking for an intriguing family saga that encompasses over 50 years of living and multiple generations. The writing style is easy to get sucked into and I had a hard time putting it down.

 
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Posted by on June 15, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – Perfect Chemistry – Simone Elkeles

14 Jun

Book: Perfect Chemistry
Author: Simone Elkeles
Narrators: Roxanne Hernandez and Blas Kisic
Listening Time: 9 hrs, 45 minutes

Book Description:
When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created ‘perfect’ life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she’s worked so hard for: her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect.
Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.

Review:
I’ll be a dork and admit that I love Shakespeare, in fact, I took an English class in college as an elective that was the first of two semester classes just about his various plays. While Romeo and Juliet is not a favorite of mine, I do enjoy it, especially for the forbidden love angle. In Perfect Chemistry, Ms Elkeles takes this take of star-crossed lovers and sets it in modern-day Chicago. I will have to admit I had been recommended this book many times over the last few months (after I started reading a lot more YA) but I kept putting it off and I don’t know why. Maybe because I was afraid of being disappointed since it had been so hyped up…but when I did decide to read (or in this case, listen), I wasn’t disappointed.

The main characters of Brittany and Alex were well-developed and I felt that through-out the book, I not only got to know them, but also see them grow and change as people (yes, I know that probably sounds a bit weird). The supporting characters of Paco (Alex’s friend), his brothers (who get their own books later on), as well as Brittany’s sister provided an interesting depth and development. Without them, I don’t know if the book would have been that good.

My recommendation for the audiobook came from a goodreads friend of mine and since I trust her recommendations (she hasn’t steered me wrong yet), I decided to go with that option. One of the things I did like about the book was that it was told in an alternating POV with each chapter dedicated to either Alex or Brittany, and the audiobook was the same. Roxanne did a great job as Brittany, I could see her in my head as I was listening to her narration. At first, however, I wasn’t so sure about Blas narration of Alex, he seemed almost too old for the teenager that Alex was supposed to be, but his voice grew on it. Especially as Alex’s background revealed itself and you realized that he had been forced to grow up too soon. I’m also not a spanish speaker, so I can’t really comment on the authenticity of the language used or how it is supposed to sound, but to my untrained ear it sounded good.

I’ll definately be reading more by this author in the future, especially the books about Alex’s brothers.

 
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Posted by on June 14, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – Night Road – Kristin Hannah

13 Jun

Night Road
Author: Kristin Hannah

Book Description:
For a mother, life comes down to a series of choices.
To hold on…
To let go..
To forget…
To forgive…
Which road will you take?
For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows—her twins, Mia and Zach—are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.
Jude does everything to keep her kids safe and on track for college. It has always been easy– until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them.
On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive.

Review:
This is a hard review for me to write because I love Kristin Hannah’s books and while I did give it 4 stars, I had some serious issues with a few of the characters in it. Anyone who has read Ms Hannah’s books before, knows that she takes a family type issue and expounds on it in a way to everyone can try to relate to, however, unlike other authors who write similar stuff, she does provide a concrete ending to the situation and doesn’t leave the reader hanging. In the case of Night Road, she takes teenage drinking, teen pregnancy and consequences of those respective actions and ties it up on a well-written book.

Personally, my issues with it stem from the character of Jude, the mother. Through-out the book, in the lead-up the the tragedy (which at least I saw coming), she is portrayed as being this mother who some would call (and even I would), a helicopter mother. Always hanging around her kids, making sure that they have everything that they need – which in itself is good, however, there is a point when it almost becomes too much and for me she reached that point when she was still acting this way when her kids were seniors in high school and about to head out into the world on their own. However, it wasn’t only that that pissed me off about her character, it was her actions in specific part of the book and what appeared to be her inability to take responsibility for the role that she played in the outcome.

She had always told her children (Mia and Zach) that they could always call her no matter what and she would come to pick them up from wherever they were no questions asked. The one time that they did get drunk and doing the right thing called her like she asked, they were punished for their behavior. Now, I know that they weren’t innocent in the situation, but at their age, doing what she did, was just asking them to not repeat the action (calling her) in the future and while ultimately playing a major contributing role to the tragedy.

I still can’t figure out, however, if her actions following the tragedy were due in part of her denial of her role in it, or her consuming guilt over what happened. I want to say the former, but looking back now (it has been several months since I read this), I’m leaning towards the latter.

Someone on goodreads.com posted a discussion question asking if this book would be appropriate for high school students. My resounding answer is yes.

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – The Schoolmaster’s Daughter – John Smolens

12 Jun

The Schoolmaster’s Daughter
Author: John Smolens
Narrator: Elisabeth S. Rodgers
Length: 13 hours 5 minutes

Having not grown up in the US, I never really got the opportunity to study the American Revoluation like most high school students. In fact, until I took a class on it in college, I hardly knew anything about it. I mean, I recognized the name Paul Revere, and knew some of the major political players, but that was it. However, when my ship pulled into Boston for the 4th of July a few years ago, I got to do the geeky historical thing and go and see all the key sites of events that occurred during the initial stages of the American Revolution. So knowing all this, when I started The Schoolmaster’s Daughter, I had a good idea of the key events as they occurred.

I felt that the author did a good job of exploring the various dynamics that were occurring during this time period. The families that were split between being Tories and Whig’s (like Abigail/her brothers and her father/mother), the interaction of the British troops with the general population and the overall climate that one would expect in a country soon to be consumed by war. While I didn’t necessarily agree with all of Abigails actions, and felt that she def. had some TSTL moments, as a character she was engaging and I would like to see her maybe show up in another book that takes place after the revolution.

The audiobook version of this was narrated by Elisabeth S. Rodgers. This isn’t the first time that I had listened to something narrated by her and it won’t be the last. She does a great job of being able to provide voices to a wide variety of characters and at no time did I feel like the voices were starting to blend together. At times, I wanted to continue driving just so I could listen to a bit more before I got to work or at home at night.

 
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Posted by on June 12, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – Dead End Deal – Allen Wyler

04 Jun

Review Copy Provided by the Publisher

When I look back at the books I have read over the last year, there has been a pretty clear shift from the romances that I used to read, almost to the exclusion of everything else, to my rather diverse reading fare, a lot of while you see mentioned on my blog. If the publisher of Dead End Deal had asked me a year ago, I probably would not have agreed to review it and that would have been a mistake.

I was immediately draw into the story of Jon Ritter who is a neuro-surgeon working towards a cure for Alzheimer’s, as well as other forms of dementia through the use of stem cells. Having following the various controversies regarding stem cell research over the last few years, I realized that I really knew nothing about it, and so entering the world created by Allen Wyler, I was immediately sucked in. As I was reading, my first through was wow, he sure knows a lot about neurosurgery and upon googling his name, I found out why, he is a Doctor in his own right.

The book brought up some interesting ideas about the use of stem cells, how pharmaceutical companies influence funding towards drugs, and what would happen if a cure was really discovered but (and this is me thinking out loud) what if the cure was never published, never mentioned, so that these companies would still keep getting money to fund their research.

The novel was well-paced, and while I was able to see some of the twists coming before they did, there were others that I didn’t see, which increased my enjoyment of it. Overall, I’d give it 3.5 stars, but I will definately be seeking out this author again in the future.

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of Dead End Deal, the following link will take you to the publishers website: http://astorandblue.com/dead-end-deal/

 
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Posted by on June 4, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – Austin Nights – Herocious

31 May

Review Copy Provided by Author

I’m going to be honest up-front and say that this is a DNF review. I made it approximately a tenth of the way through the book before I gave up on it. Based on the description provided, this sounded like an interesting read, so I requested it through one of my goodreads group (to which the author had donated a copy of members to review).

However, upon starting to read, I was immediately confused as to what was going on. There was no semblance of chapters, but rather vignettes of different experiences. I still can’t figure out how the numbering for these went, it started at 3, went to 1, then jumped to 4 and back to 1…so I was wondering if there was something funky with my copy. Looking at some of the reviews on amazon they talk about how it is a stream of consciousness work, but if that is the case, then it is an extremely fractured stream – in one vignette, the two main characters Michael and Bridgette are driving to Austin, then they are in Austin, and then they are back on the road. There is swapping of points of view from Michael to Bridget without any indication (normally the only sign of that is mentioning the other person’s name).

When I started to look closer and try to re-read a couple of the scenes to understand, it seemed as though the author expected the reader to see other places. For example, in one part he talks about his grandfather and how he used to visit him in college. He ends the scene with the statement that he hasn’t seen his grandfather in a while, but then says that “I can tell he’s freshly barbered, straight razor and all, doing the best he can” – while I assume this means, he is projecting the imagine of what he remembers his grandfather to be, it just doesn’t ring true – if his grandfather was that influential – why hasn’t he seen him recently, are they staying in touch – it just seems very disjoined.

One of my pet peeve’s when it comes to books is when stuff is said in 20 words what could be said in 5 or 10, and in the few sections that I read, this did seem to be an issue. Maybe it is because as part of my job we focus on writing for maximum utility, but the verbose-ness of the language used was distracting and maybe played into why I was having difficulties reading it.

 
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Posted by on May 31, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – The Night Ferry – Michael Robotham

29 May

One of my pet peeves when it comes to books is authors who double-dip characters in books that aren’t part of series, because I feel like I am always missing something. That was precisely the case of what happened with The Night Ferry. I knew that the author had written a series, but for my purposes, I wasn’t looking to starting a new series, so I opted to read what I assumed to be a stand-alone. Unfortunately, I soon found out that while The Night Ferry was technically a stand-alone, the author did refer back to events that had occurred in previous books. So I ended up spending a good portion of my time, puzzling that out (my library didn’t have any of the other books in audio format and I was looking specifically for an audiobook at the time). When viewing other reviews of this book after finishing it, it does appear as though I wasn’t the only person who felt that way, which was nice to see.

Overall, I liked the story that was presented, although at the same time it did seem to be very obvious from the beginning as to where the whole storyline was going. I wasn’t surprised by any of the twists in the story as they occurred. Based on my experiences with this book, I am not sure whether I will rush out to try this author again, but at the same time, I do have my standard, at least two books by an author prior to giving up on them. so maybe I’ll check out one of the books in the series and see how that plays out.

This is the first time that I have listened to a narration by Clare Corbett but I ended up enjoying it. I felt that she had a good range of voices that she used through-out and I didn’t feel like any of the voices had been over-done or repeated through-out the various characters. I will likely pick up other books narrated by her in the future to see if she can maintain this ability in other books.

 
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Posted by on May 29, 2012 in Book Review

 

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