Tuesday Book Reviews

5 star review of The Brotherhood of the Rose by David Morrell

This book taught me more about creating tension and writing action scenes than all the talks I’ve seen David Morrell give. Two orphans, Saul and Chris, were mentored by the mysterious Eliot and trained to be assassins, supposedly for the CIA. Years after Eliot gave the boys their first Baby Ruth candy bar, they are being hunted by every espionage group in the world. Loyalty is tested by betrayal leading to revenge. The story moves swiftly from the rockies in Colorado to Washington, D.C., Bangkok to London, Paris to the Canadian rockies and other places along the way. Most of the time a page-turner with a few sections of exposition.

4 star review of Ice by Kevin Tinto

From the cliffs in the Gila Mountains of New Mexico to Antarctica, this novel was full of action and emotion. The Native American mystery starts with the discovery of an unknown dwelling at the bottom of a cliff and kept my interest through this story. The main characters of anthropologist Dr. Leah Andrews and her mountain-climbing husband Jack are only partly rounded, and I expect will continue to show what their made of in book 2. The geography and history of southwestern New Mexico are skewed somewhat. A cliff dwelling is known in the area, and the muddling of Navajo and Pueblo Indians is disturbing, but since the novel is part science fiction, I can accept that, as if it was alternate history. I’m interested enough to read on to find out what happens to the Native American girl.

Tuesday Book Review

The Motive: Cycle of Violence by Joseph Badal

Good plot about an Albuquerque doctor who’s called to Hawaii upon the death of his sister. He doesn’t believe it’s a suicide, as the police claim, and sets out to prove it. Along the way, he meets a woman his sister worked with to help kids, and when they’re both threatened, enlists the aid of a former pal. My only gripe is the novel spends too much time on the bad guys’ stories and also drags out the ending – which segues to the next book in the series. Still, it was full of action and adventure, tension and plot development and several great characters.

Tuesday Book Review

Four-star review for Cloak of Darkness by Helen MacInnes

I hadn’t read any of the authors espionage thrillers for many years, although they used to be favorites of mine. It was like the proverbial old shoe, fitting me and my current mood. I would have rated this higher, just for the way she creates suspense, but it’s dated in so many ways, mainly because it’s set in the late 1970’s. Still, I enjoyed reading about Robert Renwick again and seeing what he was up to this time. When he’s told his name is on the Minus List, he travels to New York. For Claudel, the story starts in Djibouti. After Robert stows his young wife away in a safe place in Virginia, he and Claudel meet up in the Swiss and French alps in pursuit of a previous foe and a new one.

Tuesday Book Review

5-star review of The Interspecies Poker Tournament: The Roshaven Case Files No. 27 by Claire Buss

Another fun read about thief-catcher Ned Spinks and his assistant Jenni the sprite. This time, they’re after a mustachioed shape-shifter who take the form of each kind of fae creature before he kills one of them. Jenni’s loyalty is torn between Ned and Momma K, the highest authority of all the fae, who has tasked her with finding the murderer. We learn more about each of the fae communities along the way, and a get a quick lesson on Texas Hold’em. If you’re looking for a quick and delightful read, this is the book for you.

Tuesday Book Review

4 star review of Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey

The crew of the Roci are back from the Ring and the discoveries on the other side, but they’re separated. Amos is on Earth, Alex on Mars, Naomi trying to reunite with her son, and Jim waiting on repairs to his ship on Tycho Station. With alternating chapters about each of them, their various stories combine to tell their stories, not just their present, but their pasts. Nemesis Games takes us back mainly to the inner planets.

Tuesday Book Review

3 star review of Excelsior by George Sirois

Teenager Matt Perry has written a comic strip about the hero Excelsior ever since he touched a sword, found during an archaeological dig. Turns out the sword holds the essence of the actual Excelsior, who saved his world Denab IV from the Krunations. And Matt was chosen to absorb the essence as many have before. He’s needed to free the Denabians. This novel is full of exciting adventures and situations, dear to the hearts of teenage boys. Aside from occasionally lapses, the writing was good, but I knew how it would end, especially since it’s the first of a series.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

5-star review of A Conventional Corpse by Joan Hess

I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed reading the Claire Malloy mysteries. Somehow I’d missed this one in the past. Claire, a bookstore owner, is roped into hosting a mystery writer’s convention in Farberville at the local college and a quaint old house turned hotel. The chaos that ensues is unavoidable, given that the four female and one male writers are frenemies, and that few of them get along with an editor who crashes the party. Taking a back-seat to all this is Claire’s relationship with police detective Peter Rosen. Toss in a cat, Claire’s daughter and her friend, a vegan hotel owner, and a few others, making this a fun story from start to finish, the kind of book I need at a time like this. I understand the Kindle version of the book has many spelling errors, but I didn’t notice any in the print version.