Friday, September 30, 2022
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: JESSE IS HERE FOR YOU!
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: JESSE IS HERE FOR YOU!: By Caroline Clemmons Woo Hoo! JESSE IS HERE! That’s right, join me in celebrating the release of JESSE AND THE MAIL ORDER BRIDE. This is...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: New Books for October!
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: New Books for October!: It’s October and publishers are ready for readers to get in the holiday spirit! Not Halloween—those came out in July. Here are some of t...
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: TO HIDE A ROGUE
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: TO HIDE A ROGUE: To Hide a Rogue by Thomas Walsh (1964) Walsh (1908-1984) began hiss fiction career in 1933 with stories in Black Mask and Mystery League ...
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Taking a Break
Scott and I both are taking a couple of days off. Will be linking a little but here and there, but no reviews. Guest post will run Sunday.
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Haven, Figures In A Landscape, Heart Is A Lonely Hunter
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Haven, Figures In A Landscape, Heart I...: Reported by Garry Haven by Emma Donoghue. Set in 7 th century Ireland, this novel tells the tale of Artt, a scholar and priest who has...
Review: Funeral Train: A Dust Bowl Mystery by Laurie Loewenstein
It is mid December 1935 as Funeral Train: A Dust Bowl Mystery by Laurie Loewenstein begins
and life has been brutal in the panhandle of Oklahoma with the ongoing Dust
Bowl and the Great Depression. The good people of Vermillion, Oklahoma, and the
surrounding area are facing adversity on a daily basis and hanging on by their
fingernails.
Things get way worse for many one night
as the incoming passenger train derails a little outside of town. Some are
lucky enough to be killed outright in a crash. Others, suffering horrendous
burns, will make it to the hospital only to hours and days later succumb to
their injuries. Then there are those that are severely injured and survive the
initial disaster, but may not dodge infections and other consequences.
Such is the fate of Etha Jennings, wife
of Sheriff Temple Jennings. She wakes in the overwhelmed hospital and grateful
to be alive. She knows she is one of the lucky ones so far though the injury to
her leg is significant and serious.
For Sheriff Temple Jennings, the hours
after the crash were the hardest he has ever experienced. In the aftermath of
the crash, he knew she was on the train, but had been unable to find her. Trying
to find her, help the survivors by organizing a rescue operation, and run an
investigation into what went wrong was quite a lot for one man to tackle. It helped
that he had a good deputy to help organize things and get him focused, Etha was
soon found and on the way to the hospital, and it was soon clear that the crash
was sabotage.
Then came the murder.
A less than popular local is soon found
murdered just hours after the crash. Living close to the railroad tracks means
the person might have seen who caused the crash. Maybe the killer thought he or
she would be exposed? Or maybe something else caused the killing? It is going
to be up to Sheriff Jennings, his deputy, and a railroad detective in town
investigating the crash, to put the pieces together to figure out the who and
why of it all.
This is the second book in the series
that began with the very good Death
of A Rainmaker: A Dust Bowl Mystery. Those events are occasionally
briefly referenced here though one could read this book first if one was so
inclined.
A complicated read with multiple
plotlines and a cast of characters, Funeral Train: A Dust Bowl Mystery
is another excellent historical mystery by Lavine Loewenstein. With few words,
the author paints a vivid picture that slams readers into a fully realized
fictional world. Much is at work here on multiple levels and the wait for book
two has been well worth it. Strongly recommended.
My reading copy came from the publisher
with no expectation of a review. The book comes out next Tuesday, 10/4, and is
one of many coming out that day.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2022
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: FORGOTTEN TALES OF LOVE AND MURDER by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: FORGOTTEN TALES OF LOVE AN...: Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder by Edgar Rice Burroughs, edited by Patrick H. Adkins (2001) Edgar Rice Burroughs needs little introoducti...
Short Story Wednesday Review: Cardiac Arrest (A Short Story) by K. K. Chalmers
It is tough being a cop. Tough to be a cop in a patrol car with a perfectionist. Tough to be married to a younger woman who is also a cop. She gets the job and won’t let things go.
The result is a
stress filled twenty-four hours for a certain male officer in Cardiac Arrest (A
Short Story) by K. K. Chalmers. As the hours pass and the tension rises in this
fast moving and complex tale more than one twist is a work. A very good
read.
According to Amazon I picked this up earlier this year back in March. I have no idea now if it was purchased by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account, by way of the author making it a free read, or what.
Kevin R. Tipple
©2015, 2022
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Little Big Crimes Review: The Golden Coffin by Emory Holmes II
Little Big Crimes: The Golden Coffin, by Emory Holmes II: "The Golden Coffin," by Emory Holmes II, in South Central Noir, edited by Gary Phillips, Akashic Press, 2022. The publisher sen...
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 46 Writing Contests in October 2022 - No entry fees
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 46 Writing Contests in October 2022 - No entry fees: This October there are nearly four dozen free writing contests for short fiction, novels, poetry, CNF, nonfiction, and plays. Prizes range f...
Beneath the Stains of Time: A View of Things to Come: "Death in the Fourth Dimension" (1952) by Charles B. Child
Beneath the Stains of Time: A View of Things to Come: "Death in the Fourth Dim...: Charles B. Child 's "Death in the Fourth Dimension" was originally published in the September 27, 1952, issue of Collier&#...
Review: Fall Guy: A Joe Gunther Novel by Archer Mayor
Today is publication day for this book which I reviewed back in May thanks to a digital ARC I received via NetGalley. Since this is publication day, I thought I would remind folks of my review.
It is late winter as Fall Guy: A Joe Gunther Novel
by Archer Mayor begins and Joe Gunther, Field Force Commander of the Vermont
Bureau of Investigation, have been summoned out to a scene bathed in a sea of
strobe lights from numerous agencies. It appears that the only party not there
is the local dog catcher.
A stolen Mercedes four door sedan has been discovered
abandoned. The car was reported stolen by the owner, Lemuel Shaw several days
ago. Thanks to problems with the onboard GPS system, it was not tracked from
the house in New Hampshire to the final resting place here in Vermont.
If it was a simple stolen car that would be one
thing and would not have generated the massive law enforcement response. In
addition to numerous obviously stolen items in the car, there is a dead body in
the trunk.
If that was not enough, there were six cell phones
in the car. At least one of the phones has pornographic images of a young child
on it and the pictures are clearly very recent. That phone is also tied into
New Hampshire which creates an avenue for Joe and his team to join an Internet
Crimes Against Children Task force with their New Hampshire colleagues. It also
gives them a way to retain jurisdictional control over a rapidly more
complicated case.
One that will cross state lines repeatedly as Joe
Gunther and his team works to figure out what caused Don Kalfus to wind up dead
in the trunk of a rich man’s car. Along the way, they rescue a young girl from
a horribly abusive situation, and solve at least one cold case from long ago.
The books in this series are always very complicated
and this one is no exception. The police family are always a major factor in
these books, on and off the job, and such is the case in this read as well. All
hands are on deck and repeatedly a part of everything as the team works to
clean up a nasty and extremely entangled mess.
Complicated and highly entertaining, Fall Guy: A Joe Gunther Novel by Archer Mayor is a solidly good read that keeps readers guessing in right to the end.
My reading copy was a digital ARC courtesy of the
publisher, Minotaur Books, via NetGalley.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2022
Monday, September 26, 2022
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Shadow of the Empire: A Judge Dee Investigation by Qiu Xiaolong
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Shadow of the Empire: A Judge Dee Investigation b...: Reviewed by Jeanne Di Renjie, a seventh century Chinese magistrate and statesman, was the inspiration for an eighteenth century Chinese ...
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 37 Outstanding Writing Conferences and Workshops in October 2022
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 37 Outstanding Writing Conferences and Workshops i...: This October there are more than three dozen writing conferences. Many conferences and workshops will be held online, but some will be held ...
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Safe by Jane Adams
Safe by Jane
Adams (Joffe Books, 2020) is the first book in the DS Petra Merrow and DI Toby
Clarke series but the story really belongs to Lauren Sykes. The 17-year-old
daughter of Kyle Sykes, the leader of a criminal gang in London, had been
promised to the son of a rival gang leader in marriage. The gang leader in
question had been moving in on her father’s business interests and Sykes
thought joining the families by marriage would fend off a takeover. Lauren was
not consulted and she knew she had nothing to say about marrying Charlie Perrin,
an alcoholic 15 years older. That’s just the way these organized crime crews
operated.
But Charlie
decided to anticipate the wedding vows and Lauren was having none of it. She
shot Charlie with his own gun and knew immediately that her brutal father would
kill her in return. (Her father lacked basic parenting skills.) She grabbed all
the cash she could find and Charlie’s car keys and went on the run. Her
attempts to reach safety constitutes the plot of this nail-biting thriller that
had me holding my breath.
DS Petra
Merrow and DI Toby Clarke get pulled into the story line as a result of some of
the action but the focus is always on Lauren.
It’s hard to
say much about this hair-raising book without giving away critical plot points
but I think it is safe to point out that it bears strong similarity to Edgar
winner She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper (Ecco, 2017). This violent narrative
has even more depth. There’s some insightful commentary about the dangers of
undercover police work, as well as the way organized crime works, suborning vulnerable
personnel within law enforcement to forestall prosecution.
Adams grabs
the reader’s attention from the first page of this electrifying book. The action
never stops, the tension is palpable, and the ending deeply satisfying. One of
my best reads of the year.
·
Publisher: Joffe Books
(June 30, 2020)
·
Language: English
·
Paperback: 272 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1789314534
·
ISBN-13: 978-178931453
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works
on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, September 25, 2022
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life: Laura Thompson
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life: Laura Thompson: I started out loving this biography of Agatha Christie. It is very readable, and the first chapter about her childhood was charming. I did...
Saturday, September 24, 2022
SleuthSayers: SIX Reasons Mystery Manuscripts Fail by Melodie Campbell
SleuthSayers: SIX Reasons Mystery Manuscripts Fail: I was talking to a former student the other day about his classic mystery manuscript. It's really good in so many ways - so good in fa...
KRL: KRL This Week Update for 9/24/2022
Up on KRL this morning reviews and giveaways of another fun group of mysteries for your fall reading-"A Poisonous Page": A Sweet Fiction Bookshop Mystery by Kitt Crowe, "Mint Chocolate Murder": An Ice Cream Shop Mystery by Meri Allen, "Murder at the Blueberry Festival": A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery by Darci Hannah, "In Too Steep": A Misty Bay Tea Room Mystery by Kate Kingsbury, and "Peg and Rose Solve a Murder": A Peg and Rose Mystery by Laurien Berenson https://kingsriverlife.com/09/24/end-of-september-mystery-catchup/
And a review and giveaway of "Steeped to Death" by Gretchen Rue along with an interesting interview with Gretchen https://kingsriverlife.com/09/24/steeped-to-death-by-gretchen-rue/
We also have the latest mystery Coming Attractions from Sunny Frazier along with a giveaway of "Deadly Verse" by Elizabeth Varadan https://kingsriverlife.com/09/24/coming-attractions-no-tricks-all-treats/
And the latest Video Game News from Jayce Ham-this one talks about video games perfect for Halloween! https://kingsriverlife.com/09/24/jays-video-game-news-halloween-edition-2/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and giveaway of "Buttercream Betrayal" by Kim Davis https://www.krlnews.com/2022/09/buttercream-betrayal-by-kim-davis.html
And a review and giveaway of "The Case of the Disgraced Duke" by Cathy Ace. Be aware that this giveaway ends sooner than normal so be sure to enter by September 28! https://www.krlnews.com/2022/09/the-case-of-disgraced-duke-by-cathy-ace.html
Lorie
Scott's Take: Fantastic Four: Full Circle by Alex Ross
Fantastic Four:
Full Circle
by Alex Ross has the Fantastic Four journey to the Negative Zone after
parasites invades their home. This short tale sees them face various threats in
the Negative Zone. Featuring colorful art and callbacks to earlier stories,
this tale is a fun, but very short tale. All 4 members are featured here and
characterized pretty well.
The art is a
major highlight of this tale. Some of the art looks like something out of a
drug trip but in a good way. There is great art and vivid colors that are not
commonly used in comic books.
There is some
implied nudity, some horror elements, and minor cussing in, his nice self-contained
tale. Hopefully, Alex Ross will do more like this tale, but in a lengthier
feature. This is more like a proof-of-concept short story. Still it was an enjoyable
read.
My reading copy came by way of the OverDrive/Libby app through the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2022
Friday, September 23, 2022
The Reading Room: The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian: Reading Room Review
The Reading Room: The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian: Reading Room Review: “Oh, I can’t speak for the dead. And I won’t speak for the missing. I can only tell you what I think happened. Others—the dead and the...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Hemingway’s Cats: A Novel about Cats and Other Forces of Nature by Lindsey Hooper
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Hemingway’s Cats: A Novel about Cats and Other For...: Reviewed by Jeanne Laura Lange really needed a change of scene. She’s just ended a relationship and needs a job, so she decides to p...
SleuthSayers: Black is the Night by O'Neil De Noux
SleuthSayers: Black is the Night: BLACK IS THE NIGHT Stories Inspired by Cornell Woolrich Just received my copy of BLACK IS THE NIGHT . Haven’t read it yet, so this is not...
FFB Review: Visions in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries by J.D. Robb
I had always had a strong skepticism of folks who claimed they could see things, whether it be visions of the future, or something else. Then I met Sandi. We had been married a number of years and with kids before she told me she had the ability to see things before they happened. Not during the event, but before it. It did not happen that often, sometimes more than a year would pass between such deals, but I learned that when she had a very strong dream of something that she believed would happen, I really should pay attention.
So, Lieutenant
Dallas’s skepticism of such abilities reflected my own long ago as Visions in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries by J. D. Robb begins. This is the 19th
book in the series. It is still September 2059 and just after recent events
detailed in the last book. She has been out with Roarke, doing the corporate
wife thing, and has survived the four-hour event without killing anyone. She
counts that as a win and is looking forward to getting out of her dress and
high heels. That is until her latest case begins.
Her and
Detective Delia Peabody are dispatched to Belvedere Castle in Central Park. A
young woman has been brutally assaulted and killed. It wasn’t bad enough that
she was raped and strangled by way of a red ribbon wrapped around her neck. The
killer set the body up as a presentation of what he done and finished the act
by taking her eyes with him.
This poor woman
wasn’t the first and certainly won’t be the last. Detective Peabody and
Lieutenant Dallas are chasing yet another killer across the city from kill site
to kill site as he works his own agenda. What that agenda is or why he is doing
it remains a mystery to them both. That means Dallas is going to come up with a
risky plan in Visions in Death.
All the usual caveats
apply here in this read as they have been from the beginning. The former writer
in me cringes every so often with all the head hopping shifts of POV in many paragraphs,
awkward transitions, and all the rest of it. At the same time, this read, and
the series in general, pulls you in from the start of the tale.
Which is ultimately why it works. The series characters you care about, the crimes are often twisted and gruesome, and the stories are interesting. While there might be flaws in the construction of the storytelling, depending on the eye of the beholder, there is no doubt the actual story is compelling. Every case, including this one, pulls the reader in quickly and weaves a complicated world with murder at the heart of it. Technology changes over time, but human emotions do not. These books work well and can become quite addictive. Visions in Death is another good one.
My reading copy came by way of the Libby/OverDrive app and the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple
© 2022
Thursday, September 22, 2022
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Scarlet Circle (1943) by Jonathan Stagge
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Scarlet Circle (1943) by Jonathan Stagge: Hugh Wheeler, Richard Webb, Martha Kelly and Mary Aswell formed a team of writers who collaborated on a number of detectives series, standal...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: My Name Is Red, Other Birds, This Will Not Pass, The Plot
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: My Name Is Red, Other Birds, This Will...: Reported by Garry My Name is Red is a novel by Nobel Prize winning Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk. During the height of the Ottom...
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
MAKE MINE MYSTERY: Weather As Character by Janis Patterson
MAKE MINE MYSTERY: Weather As Character: by Janis Patterson As you probably know, I'm out of the country now, enjoying my Very Big Trip, so I'm reprinting one of my more pop...
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: Book Sale purchases
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: Book Sale purchases: Last Friday, September 16, was the first day of the Planned Parenthood book sale and it will continue through Sunday, September 25. We wen...
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: FORGOTTEN TALES OF LOVE AND MURDER
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: FORGOTTEN TALES OF LOVE AN...: Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder by Edgar Rice Burroughs, edited by Patrick H. Adkins (2001) Edgar Rice Burroughs needs little introoducti...
Patti Abbott: Short Story Wednesday, "The Tooth" Shirley Jackson
Patti Abbott: Short Story Wednesday, "The Tooth" Shirley Jackson
Little Big Crimes Review: Cold Case by Bev Vincent
Little Big Crimes: Cold Case, by Bev Vincent: "Cold Case," by Bev Vincent, in Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Issue 12, 2022. This is the second story by Vincent to make my bes...
Short Story Wednesday Review: The Girls On The Shore: A Detective Mathew Venn Short Story by Ann Cleeves
But Detective
Inspector Matthew Venn was home, and this was there to see the two very young
girls out on the beach. It is January, cold and windy with ice on the ground,
and the girls clearly are not dressed to be out there. They are dressed in
school uniforms. They are doing nothing but staring out at the water.
Why? He has no
idea. It is a school morning and he becomes increasingly concerned about them
as he makes his way out to them.
Detective
Inspector Venn eventually gets the young girls to come back to his house. It
quickly becomes clear that something is going on with their mother who might be
nearby. After getting his sergeant, Jen Rafferty, to come to his house and keep
an eye on the girls, he goes back out to look for their missing mother.
What follows is
an interesting 14-page mystery short story. A tale that becomes increasingly
complicated and ends in an unexpected way.
Also included in
the short read is a short preview of approximately the same number of pages of
the new book, The Rising Tide. This book is the latest in the DVI
Vera Stanhope series. (It was recently reviewed here
by Lesa Holstine.)
About 10 pages of this 36-page read is title page, author bio, listing of books, publisher info, and other filler material. Something to keep in mind when considering the price of this short read. Fortunately, I was able to get my copy from the Libby/OverDrive app via the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple
©2022
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Monday, September 19, 2022
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: A Deadly Covenant by Michael Stanley
This volume is another prequel to
the first books in the series, which showed Bengu at the peak of his career. A
Deadly Covenant and the previous book Facets of Death (2020) are
intriguing looks back at Bengu just starting out as a detective, unsure of
himself, learning from his supervisor who in turn was beginning to realize
Bengu’s potential.
The village of Ncamasere has
embarked on a project to bring much-needed water from the Kavango River inland
to struggling farms. The backhoe operator is digging the pipeline in the sandy
soil when he discovers unmistakably human bones. Bengu is sent to watch the
pathologist examine the scene and conduct the autopsy. So he’s observing closely
when the pathologist discovers the area is actually a mass grave of what
appears to be bushmen, the indigenous people of the Kalahari Desert. Bullet
fragments and injuries to the bones consistent with gunshots make it a crime
scene, although one many years old.
The local police station commander tries
to rush the investigation, anxious to have these outsiders gone. Bengu insists
that the homicides must be looked into, his thoroughness and tenacity coming to
the fore. He discovers strong opinions about the water project, some anxious to
receive its benefits and others who resist change. This dichotomy of urge to modernize
versus reluctance to abandon ancestral practices is an underlying theme in many
of the mysteries I have read set in Africa.
Somehow word of the massacre reaches
the media and they descend on the village, disrupting Bengu’s work, demanding
justice for the murdered natives. A fascinating subplot with a bushman
illustrates some indigenous beliefs.
Not much like Precious Ramotswe’s version of Botswana, the Botswana shown here is more realistic, with the intricacies and the contradictions to be expected of such an ancient land. The resolution is far more complex than I imagined, keeping me in suspense until the final pages. A fine addition to the series.
·
Publisher: White Sun
Books (August 28, 2022)
·
Language: English
·
Paperback: 352 pages
·
ISBN-10: 0997968982
· ISBN-13: 978-0997968989
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Beneath the Stains of Time: Death and the Conjuror (2022) by Tom Mead
Beneath the Stains of Time: Death and the Conjuror (2022) by Tom Mead: Earlier this month, I reviewed two of Tom Mead's short-form locked room mysteries, "Invisible Death" (2018) and "The Wal...
Saturday, September 17, 2022
SleuthSayers: Real or Nonreal? by John Floyd
SleuthSayers: Real or Nonreal?: I was asked an interesting question a few weeks ago, about writing. First, a quick story. Years ago a writer friend of mine had just publish...
KRL This Week Update for 9/17/2022
Up on KRL this morning a review and giveaway of "The Rising Tide" by Ann Cleeves https://kingsriverlife.com/09/17/the-rising-tide-a-vera-stanhope-novel-by-ann-cleeves/
And a review and giveaway of "A Deadly Covenant" by Michael Stanley https://kingsriverlife.com/09/17/a-deadly-covenant-by-michael-stanley/
We also have a review and giveaway of "Last Liar Standing" by Danielle M. Wong, along with an interesting interview with Danielle https://kingsriverlife.com/09/17/last-liar-standing-by-danielle-m-wong/
And the latest Queer Mystery Coming Attractions by Matt Lubbers-Moore https://kingsriverlife.com/09/17/queer-mystery-coming-attractions-october-2022/
And a review of the latest season of the BritBoxTV mystery show "McDonald and Dobbs" https://kingsriverlife.com/09/17/britbox-streaming-quirky-clever-gem-mcdonald-dodds/
For those who prefer to listen to Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast directly on KRL here is the player for the latest episode that features the first chapter of "Bait and Witch" by Angela M. Sanders, read by local actor Ariel Linn. This is the perfect story to start getting you in the mood for Halloween! https://kingsriverlife.com/09/17/new-mysteryrats-maze-podcast-featuring-bait-and-witch/
Up on KRL during the week we posted another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author Angela Greenman about her new book "The Child Riddler" https://kingsriverlife.com/09/14/riddles-riddles-toil-and-trouble/
And another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author Hazel Smith about the dog in her new book "Mystery Maid" https://kingsriverlife.com/09/14/god-knew-i-needed-a-dog/
And we also shared a post letting our readers and listeners know about the fun new bonus content on our Patreon, and a few other ways that you can help us be able to keep doing what we do. Hope you check it out! We are only able to do what we do thanks to all of you! https://kingsriverlife.com/09/14/latest-news-from-krl-mysteryrats-maze-podcast/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and giveaway of "Last But Not Leashed" by Eileen Brady https://www.krlnews.com/2022/09/last-but-not-leashed-by-eileen-brady.html
And a review of "The Alchemist of Riddle & Ruin" by Gigi Pandian, along with an ebook giveaway of any one book in the series https://www.krlnews.com/2022/09/the-alchemist-of-riddle-and-ruin.html
Lorie
Scott's Take: Superman: Action Comics Vol 2: The Arena by Phillip K. Johnson
Superman: Action Comics Vol 2:
The Arena
by Phillip K. Johnson picks up with the newly formed team led by Superman on
the way to Warworld to overthrow Mongrul and free the slaves of Warworld. Of
course, things do not go as planned. In the backups, separate story lines, Jimmy
Olsen and the Guardian team up as well as in the other one, the Martian
Manhunter is trying to find his place in the world and must face his past.
This is an action packed tale with great
art and a writer who really gets Superman. This writer is doing a lot to flesh
out Warworld and add to the mythos and he deserves all the praise he is
getting. Most of the team get in the spotlight in this volume except for a
couple of characters. One twist would have been more impactful if we knew the
characters involved better. Besides Superman, Midnight and Manchester Black are
two personal favorites in this volume. They provided a nice contrast to how
Superman sees the world and they act more ruthless than Superman. The new minions introduced for Mongrul seem
interesting if underdeveloped at this point.
A gripe I have is Superman displays a
lack of planning in this volume which is atypical for him, but the writer does
a good job of justifying it. Another gripe I have is that the backups do not
seem to tie into the main plot of the Superman books, but maybe they will
somehow be relevant down the line.
I highly recommend this read for Superman fans and I am eagerly looking forward to reading the third volume when it comes out. That volume is currently untitled and scheduled to be released in late February of next year.
My reading copy came by way of the
Hoopla app through the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2022
Friday, September 16, 2022
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo: Reviewed by Kristin While browsing Tennessee READS for an audiobook, I came across The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. I alm...
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE BLIND SPOT
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE BLIND SPOT: The Blind Spot by Homer Eon Flint & Austin Hall (originally published in six parts in Argosy- All Story Weekly , May 14 - June 18, 1...
FFB Review: Divided In Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries by J.D. Robb
It is a quiet and intimate night at home
for Roarke and his wife, Eve Dallas. That is until Roarke’s administrative
aide, Caro, calls in Divided In Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries by
J.D. Robb. It is an emergency and it concerns Reva, her daughter.
Her daughter, Reva Ewing, is at a crime
scene where the bodies of her best friend and Reva’s own husband in a bed are
present. They have been brutally murdered. While Reva was enraged, and for good
cause, as she had just found out about their affair, she is sure she did not
kill them. She also can’t fully account for her time as she may have been
drugged.
Reva Ewing is not only Caro’s daughter;
she is an employee of one of Roarke’s many companies. A former secret service
agent and a hero who nearly lost her life in an attack on a president of the
United States, she is currently part of a team working on a top-secret security
project for Roarke Enterprises. Said project has serious national security
implications as there is a rising terror threat.
Caro and Reva are both very important to
Roarke and it is clear from the start that he is going to be heavily involved. Either
Reva did it and will need to be pulled off the project and sent to prison. If
she did not do it, that top secret project might be why she was framed for the
murder. That means Roarke is going to be involved.
Those two possibilities are not the only
ones so Lieutenant Dallas and Detective Peabody of the NYPSD will each need to
keep an open mind. That won’t be easy, especially for Dallas, when her past and
her response to it once again creates a wedge between her and the man she loves
with all her being.
While all the usual caveats with this series apply here, so does the fact that these are fun reads. While the flaws tend to grate on this writer, the reader soon does not notice them as one is ripped along in a complex and entertaining tale. Divided in Death, works well overall, and is another fun and enjoyable read.
My reading copy came by way of the Libby/OverDrive app and the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2022
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