Tuesday Book Review

 

Five-Star Review for Vendetta in Death an Eve Dallas novel by J. D. Robb

 We’re back once again with Eve, Rourke, Peabody and the rest of the gang, although a few made only a brief appearance and others were only mentioned. Someone is killing and castrating men who were womanizers, who strayed and/or who abused women. We learn the identity of the killer, who calls herself Lady Justice, pretty quickly, but then Eve has to prove it. At least she knows there are quite a few good men out there. Eve understands human psychology and motivations and use those with determination to build a case as she gets ready to confront the killer. All the regulars are consistent with what we’ve seen in the past of their characters. Smooth, quick read despite the amount of brutality described.

 

 

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Five-star Review of Across the Sand by Hugh Howey

 I read Sand years ago when it was first published and it’s stuck in my mind ever since. A world that’s been so inundated with sand that people have to dive deep to scavenge the cities of the past required the kind of world-building I admire. In this story, Palmer, one of those divers who brought back relics from Danver (what’s left of current-day Denver) in the first book, is still diving. His siblings are too, except for Rob who develops new devices to improve those dives. Vic, the oldest sibling and a major character in the previous novel, appears only briefly at the beginning of this sequel. In another locale, a girl witnesses the destruction of her city and then stows away on a train containing her father. Interesting characters and relationships make the story even better.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Three-star review of Quicksilver by Dean Koontz

 As much as I usually enjoy Koontz’s thrillers from start to finish, this wasn’t the best. It started well but somewhere past the middle the narrative went from action-packed adventure to telling, as if he was in a hurry to get to the end and couldn’t patiently take us along. Yes, there were still tense moments and a few scenes showing what happened to Quinn Quicksilver and company, but I lost some of the moments of discovery and overcoming the odds. Perhaps he didn’t want to get into the disgusting behavior of The Light’s flock, but there were enough descriptive words to convey that. Still, Koontz’s command of the English language is superb and the characters were fun, especially the dog.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Five-star Review of Death Sets Sail: A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery

 In the last novel about Daisy, Hazel and the Detective Society, the girls are on a cruise down the Nile in Egypt along with Hazel’s father and sisters, Amina, George and Alexander and a few others. The other side of the ship is occupied by the Breath of Life Society comprising women and men who believe they’re reincarnations of ancient Egyptian pharaohs. Early during the voyage, the head of them, Theodora Miller, is stabbed to death in her cabin during the night. The girls, excuse me, young women are on the case. Told as always from Hazel’s point of view, the last chapter is especially full of feels.  I’m sad to see the end of the Detective Society but we’re promised a new series headed by Hazel’s little sister, May.

Tuesday Book Review

 

Four-star Review of Event Horizon: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (Alex Fletcher Book 3)  by Stephen Konkoly

 There are way too many gun descriptions and military designations in this series for my taste. That said, this was an action-packed entry in the series detailing Alex Fletcher’s actions in and journey out of Boston with his son, his neighbor and the neighbor’s daughter, followed by their marine-assisted trip back to his family in Maine, and then by defense of the place where his family and his neighbors have congregated. I have mixed feelings about being cognizant of the plans of the militia leader. Luckily, the marines are on the Fletchers’ side. Still, their not safe even at the end of this novel.

Tuesday Book Review

 

Five-Star Review of Pegasus in Space by Anne McCaffrey

 I haven’t read McCaffrey’s books for some time but picked this one up recently. The Talent series is much more than a space opera series. It’s about the people, not only their psychic talents, but also how they react to challenges. Peter Reidinger has already mastered so much after he became a paraplegic, using his psychokinetic talent to compensate, but now he’s reaching for the stars. Although there are threats to Peter, Johnnie and the others, including new characters, action and tension are less important than Peter’s journey and the ending is very satisfying.

Tuesday Book Review

 

Four-star review of Cosega Sphere (The Cosega Sequence Book 4) by Brandt Legg

Seven years after the end of the previous book in this series, Rip Gaines and Gale Asher are hiding out in Fiji with their six-year-old daughter, and still trying to answer their questions about the Eysen, the sphere found in a Virginia dig. It seemed like every agency of the US government was looking for them but so was the Foundation, which had their own sphere and a team working on it. The Foundation had their own initiative they wanted to use to prevent the future the spheres predicted. Rip was actually working on Hawaii, until Hooker decided he should go someplace more secure, an island invisible to radar and the naked eye using Cosegan tech. Before Gale could leave Fiji to join him, their daughter was hurt in a playground incident that sent her to the hospital with damaged eyes. As usual, the story has a lot of action, but the glimpses into the FBI, CIA and other agency’s actions detracts rather than adds to the tension.