Tuesday book reviews

 

Four-star review of Beast by Anna Willett

Two well-written horror short stories make up this book. The first, Last Call, is a good reason to never visit a haunted house, even with a friend. In the second, The Widow, Dan’s experiences may have scared him straight. Both stories are filled with vivid descriptions. Since I’m not a fan of horror stories, if I hadn’t been given an ARC of these to read, I wouldn’t have picked this up. Perfect for this time of year, though.

Five-star review of New Worlds: Rogue Star #2 by Jasper T. Scott

Like the first one in the series, this is a fast-moving story, this time focusing on Logan’s attempts to find his son and on the amazing technology of the robotic Screechers who have invaded Earth. Logan, his wife and daughter are living in a hidden underwater city, but his son was left behind. Logan especially is a very believable character with many choices to make. Some of those get him into desperate situations. The wrap-up is far-fetched, but after all the twists and turns, why not?

Tuesday Book Review

 

Three-star review of Key Lime Die by Summer Prescott

Like the first book in the series, the first half of this one was build-up. The murder didn’t occur until the halfway point. As expected from that build-up, Marilyn was suspected of killing her rival pie maker. She did solve the crime, I’ll give her that. I like Marilyn and love key lime pie, but I don’t think I’ll read more stories about her misadventures.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Five-star review of Rogue Star: Frozen Earth by Jasper T. Scott

I always enjoy this kind of science fiction story, especially if it’s as well-done as this one. A rogue asteroid is hurtling toward Earth. It will cause another ice age, affecting the northern half of the U.S.

Named for Richard Greenhouse who discovered it, the rogue hides an invasion by alien robots. Richard’s sister Kate, brother-in-law Logan, and their family don’t take his warnings that it’s coming until it’s almost too late for them to fly from New Jersy to San Antonio and join him in the compound he created. But the story really picks up after they do. The characters are real, and their reactions to the invasion by the aliens before the rogue arrives are also real. I’ve already purchased the second book in the series and will read it very soon.