Showing posts with label action. Show all posts
Showing posts with label action. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Historical Thriller Review: The Hangman's Daughter (Die Henkerstochter #1)

The Hangman's Daughter (Die Henkerstochter #1)
by Oliver Pötzsch


Description:
Magdalena, the clever and headstrong daughter of Bavarian hangman Jakob Kuisl, lives with her father outside the village walls and is destined to be married off to another hangman’s son—except that the town physician’s son is hopelessly in love with her. And her father’s wisdom and empathy are as unusual as his despised profession. It is 1659, the Thirty Years’ War has finally ended, and there hasn’t been a witchcraft mania in decades. But now, a drowning and gruesomely injured boy, tattooed with the mark of a witch, is pulled from a river and the villagers suspect the local midwife, Martha Stechlin.

Jakob Kuisl is charged with extracting a confession from her and torturing her until he gets one. Convinced she is innocent, he, Magdalena, and her would-be suitor race against the clock to find the true killer. Approaching Walpurgisnacht, when witches are believed to dance in the forest and mate with the devil, another tattooed orphan is found dead and the town becomes frenzied. More than one person has spotted what looks like the devil—a man with a hand made only of bones. The hangman, his daughter, and the doctor’s son face a terrifying and very real enemy.


My Review:
I quite enjoyed this story, but I think the title of it is a bit misleading. The hangman’s daughter, Magdalena, is hardly the main character. She’s one of the three folks trying to clear Martha, the accused witch, and solve the mysterious deaths of the orphans.

There some rather exciting sequences and the images really pop. It makes for a great thriller.
I also find it interesting that the author is basing the story on his own family history, though I’m pretty sure the exact scenario in this book is fiction.

Overall, I loved the story and recommend it to folks who enjoy historical fiction and thrillers.

I purchased my copy of this book.


About the Author:

 
Oliver Pötzsch is a German writer and filmmaker. After high school he attended the German School of Journalism in Munich from 1992 to 1997. He then worked for Radio Bavaria. In addition to his professional activities in radio and television, Pötzsch researched his family history. He is a descendant of the Kuisle, from the 16th to the 19th Century a famous dynasty of executioners in Schongau.


Author Links:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website




Friday, June 29, 2018

Fantasy Review: The Emerald Wars by Grace Watson

The Emerald Wars
by Grace Watson

Description:
When Leonie escapes from her life as a servant in the Emerald City, all she wants is to find her place in the outside world. After being saved by rebel fighter Dorothy, she finds herself drawn into a mission to retrieve the stolen heart of the Tin Man. But something much more sinister is happening in Oz, and before long they find themselves working with the exiled Professor Crow to save their home from being destroyed from the inside out.

It’s a perilous journey that pushes them to their limits, but the four friends keep going in search of the things they need the most; wisdom, love, courage, and a home.

'The Emerald Wars' is inspired by L. Frank Baum's 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'.


My Review:
Emerald Wars is set in Oz, but beyond borrowing the land and world, diverges from there. The Wizard has made himself king, and Dorothy has become a rebel set on taking him down. Leonie, newly escaped from the Emerald City, finds herself caught up in the cause.

This is a heartfelt story of love beyond rote definition. While there are no in process romances developing, two stories take center stage. Dorothy’s own and that of the Tin Man.  I thought Dorothy’s was sad, but didn’t engage with it on a deep level. The Tin Man’s, however, is revealed gradually in little flashbacks that are simply charged with emotion. The tragedy and the triumph of this relationship were the highpoints of this story for me.

I thought the action and dialog were very well done, though near the end when there were more players involved, I got lost and had to backtrack a couple of times to see who did or said what. The technology and magic systems were also an intriguing twist on the original stories. Definitely caught and held my interest.

On the other hand, the author’s views and message bled into the story so much that, at times, it took over rather than just support the plot. I also thought that some of the resolutions were just a bit too tidy and easy to be believed. It was sort of like a character shouting, “This is unfair,” and then everyone agreeing with them and the day is saved.

As for the quality of the book, I’d say it’s good. Aside from a few grammar issues near the end, it’s pretty well edited, and the story is well organized and sticks to a main theme.

Overall, I really liked this book. I think folks who enjoy LGBT themed stories in familiar fantasy settings might enjoy this.

I received the review copy of this book from the author.


~~Find Emerald Wars Here~~


About the Author:



Born in the North-East of England, Grace grew up in the Black Country and currently lives in Wales, where she is studying music and training as a classical singer. After spending her teenage years writing fan-fiction she published her first novel, The Story of Lizzy and Darcy, in 2017. She has too many books, not enough cats, and an alarmingly large collection of ceramic owls.
 
 
~~Author Links~~

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Thriller Review: The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer

The Chemist
by Stephenie Meyer

Description:
In this gripping page-turner, an ex-agent on the run from her former employers must take one more case to clear her name and save her life.

She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn't even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning.

Now she rarely stays in the same place or uses the same name for long. They've killed the only other person she trusted, but something she knows still poses a threat. They want her dead, and soon.
When her former handler offers her a way out, she realizes it's her only chance to erase the giant target on her back. But it means taking one last job for her ex-employers. To her horror, the information she acquires only makes her situation more dangerous.

Resolving to meet the threat head-on, she prepares for the toughest fight of her life but finds herself falling for a man who can only complicate her likelihood of survival. As she sees her choices being rapidly whittled down, she must apply her unique talents in ways she never dreamed of.

In this tautly plotted novel, Meyer creates a fierce and fascinating new heroine with a very specialized skill set. And she shows once again why she's one of the world's bestselling authors.


My Review:
Quite a thriller.

I also dig how there is still, despite the main character’s best efforts, a blossoming love story. The draw of a potential happily ever after against the threat of a tenacious and heartless adversary really pulled me in.

I don’t think I’ve ever come across a story where the main character meets her love interest in quite this way. The play between her solo survivalist tendencies and her desire to right a wrong gives just the right mix of tension and humanity.

Overall, I loved it and would recommend it to fans of thrillers.

I borrowed the audiobook from the library.



About the Author (from Stephanie Meyer's Goodreads profile):

I was born in Connecticut in 1973, during a brief blip in my family's otherwise western U.S. existence. We were settled in Phoenix by the time I was four, and I think of myself as a native. The unusual spelling of my name was a gift from my father, Stephen (+ ie = me). Though I have had my name spelled wrong on pretty much everything my entire life long, I must admit that it makes it easier to google myself now.

I filled the "Jan Brady" spot in my family-the second of three girls. Unlike the Brady's, none of my three brothers are steps, and all of them are younger than all the girls. I went to high school in Scottsdale, Arizona, the kind of place where every fall a few girls would come back to school with new noses and there were Porsches in the student lot (for the record, I have my original nose, and never had a car until after I was in my twenties). I was awarded a National Merit Scholarship, and I used it to pay my way to Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah. I majored in English, but concentrated on literature rather than creative writing, mostly because I didn't consider reading books "work" (as long as I was going to be doing something anyway, I might as well get course credit for it, right?).

I met my husband, Pancho (his real name is Christiaan), when I was four, but we were never anywhere close to being childhood sweethearts. In fact, though we saw each other at least weekly through church activities, I can't recall a single instance when we so much as greeted each other with a friendly wave, let alone exchanged actual words. This may have been for the best, because when we did eventually get around to exchanging words, sixteen years after our first meeting, it only took nine months from the first "hello" to the wedding. Of course, we were able to skip over a lot of the getting to know you parts (many of our conversations would go something like this: "This one time, when I was ten, I broke my hand at a party when-" "Yeah, I know what happened. I was there, remember?")

We've been married for ten and a half years now, and have three beautiful, brilliant, wonderful boys who often remind me chimpanzees on crack. I can't write without music, and my biggest muse is, ironically enough, the band Muse. My other favorite sources of inspiration are Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, The All American Rejects, Travis, The Strokes, Brand New, U2, Kasabian, Jimmy Eat World, and Weezer, to mention a few.
                    
Author Links:


Books by this Author:


Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Time Travel Serial Review: Sweet Child of Time (The Chronicles of the Harekaiian #7) by Shanna Lauffey

Sweet Child of Time (The Chronicles of the Harekaiian #7)
by Shanna Lauffey 

Description:
A mysterious folder on a rich man's computer has taunted Kallie for too long. She has to know what it contains and whether it includes sensitive information about her people. Complications along the way send Kallie through time and space and her attempts to find someone who can hack the file leads her to a Harekai she didn't expect to see again.

Surprises lurk within the secret files of a rich man's files and Kallie's attempts to uncover the truth bring insights into every aspect of the path her life has followed. Confusion over how to deal with an enemy at a vulnerable moment tests her sense of compassion, but an accident of timing may lead to someone close to her getting lost in time forever!

My Review:
Sweet Child of Time is the latest installment of the Chronicles of the Harekaiian, an intriguing serial featuring an offset of humans with the ability to time or distance travel at whim. In this one, Kallie feels the pull of adventure and can’t resist it. Despite being safe from Mason and the others who were targeting her people, she can’t let it rest.

Like in some of the previous stories, Kallie hops through a few times, takes in a concert, dabbles in espionage, and thwarts her enemies. All in a day’s work. There were no huge revelations, but she does come to a life-changing decision and we do learn more about a seemingly inconsequential character from an earlier episode, making me thing the fellow might not be as innocent as he’d seemed.

These books are a running story, not individual novels, and are meant to be read in order.

Overall, this was a pretty good episode, not earthshattering, but good. Folks who like time travel, nostalgic peeks into history, and action would probably like this serial.

I received the review copy of this book from the author.

About the Author:

 
Shanna Lauffey is a native Californian currently living in Europe. She spends her time between homes in Sweden, France and the UK. She writes Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance in her spare time between attending university and travelling.

Her first novel, She-Wȕlf, was released 1st January 2012. A Science Fiction series involving time travel is in progress.


Follow Shanna on Amazon, Goodreads, and Twitter @ShannaLauffey.

Books by this Author:
Chronicles of the Harekaiian Volume 1 (Books 1-5)


Chronicles of the Harekaiian

Thursday, June 8, 2017

New Release: Hacked (Tucker Mystery #4) by Ray Daniel

Hacked (Tucker Mystery #4)
by Ray Daniel

Publication Date: June 8, 2017
Publisher: Midnight Ink

Description:
An online controversy threatens to take Tucker offline for good. #TuckerGate

Aloysius Tucker vows vengeance when a hacker terrorizes his ten-year-old cousin, Maria. Promising Maria that he’ll unmask the hacker and get an apology, Tucker goes online to get justice. But the resulting flame war turns deadly when the hacker is murdered. Now more hackers, the whole Twitterverse, and a relentless bounty hunter agree on one thing: Tucker is the killer and must be stopped.

His inbox filled with death threats, Tucker battles Anonymous, Chinese spies, and his own self-destructive rage while chasing a murderer the online community has named the HackMaster. Can Tucker build a case against the killer and clear his name before the death threats come true?

My Review:
Hacked is packed with thrills, and even though it’s part of a series, it reads great as a standalone. This is a book of righteous online indignation leading to lethal offline consequences. The author does a great job of making an exciting and dangerous situation plausible.

Most of the characters are well-developed and interesting. Maria, the victim of the online bully, has her own secrets. Tucker’s a master hacker, but he’s just as susceptible to the pull of internet drama as everyone else. The bullies that go after Maria are punks online, but real people with families and lives offline. And, well, CapnMerica doesn’t quite fit the well-developed criteria, but he was incredibly interesting.

Even the villain, the HackMaster, is more than anyone could guess. I found the outcome surprising, but logical. I had an inkling of suspicion about midway through, but there were several candidates for that suspicion. I didn’t ultimately figure it out until just about the same time as Tucker did.

Overall, I loved this story. While it’s pegged as a mystery, it has its fair share of thrills, too. I’d recommend this to folks who love mysteries and thrillers, particularly if they dig stories about hackers.

I picked up the advance review copy of this book from NetGalley.

About the Author:
Ray Daniel is the award-winning author of Boston-based crime fiction. His short stories “Give Me a Dollar” won a 2014 Derringer Award for short fiction and “Driving Miss Rachel” was chosen as a 2013 distinguished short story by Otto Penzler, editor of The Best American Mystery Stories 2013.

Daniel’s work has been published in the Level Best Books anthologies Thin Ice, Blood Moon, and Stone Cold. Terminated is his first novel.

For more information, visit him online at raydanielmystery.com and follow him on twitter @raydanielmystry.    

More Links:
Amazon Profile          
Goodreads Profile

Books by this Author:
 
Tucker Mysteries in order of publication.



Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Police Procedural Review: Mick Charger: Murder by Cop by J. Atencio

Mick Charger - Murder by Cop
by J. Atencio 

Description:
Mick Charger, former Navy SEAL and homicide inspector had it all until a crushing back injury ended his career with the S.F.P.D.. Mick felt like "half a man" until he was offered and accepted a semi-retirement position as Sheriff of Alpine Ridge, a bucolic community on the shore of Lake Tahoe. Life was returning to normal for Mick until he learned he was working for the mob.

The head boss thought Mick would be easy to corrupt because he was disabled. They wanted a "dirty cop". When Mick refused the gangster's offer, they kidnapped his family.

Now it's a life or death race for Mick to rescue his family and shut down the mob before the mob shuts him down... permanently. They wanted a dirty cop. Mick is about to show them how dirty he can be. Mick Charger has declared war on the mob and South Lake Tahoe is Ground Zero...

My Review:
Mick Charger-Murder by Cop is a combination of police procedural, mystery/thriller, and even paranormal near the end. Mick’s a guy going through major changes after a bust goes wrong. Add in troubles with women, a new employer with a secret agenda, and a new department in need of some shaping up and he’s got his work cut out for him.

I thought the scenes with the bad guys were the best in the book. The meeting between Mick’s friend and the informant. The courier’s downfall. Both were really well done. I think if anything, these show the promise in this author’s writing. I also enjoyed the insight into police work and Mick’s no nonsense approach to shaping up his new sheriff’s office. Another thing I liked, despite it being a huge tangent off the main story, was the black widow mystery.

On the other hand, there were some significant issues with the book. First among these were the inconsistencies. Mick’s wife’s name changes back and forth for no reason. I could see it if Mick called her Laynie in dialog but the narration and other folks kept to Elaine, but it swaps constantly. There were also some minor hiccups, as with the badge being sent to Mick, then him not having a badge, then him going shopping with his wife to pick out a badge, which happens to be described exactly like the badge he was sent.

I thought the dialog was alright, but the punctuation around it and the tendency to announce the speaker’s conclusion right before they state it aloud to the other characters pulled it down. On a similar note, I noticed several places where something happens, then rewind, it happens again. The story is good, the characters interesting, but this book really needs a solid edit, and a lot of tightening of the plot.

So, overall, I’d say this is an ok read. I liked it, but I’d have trouble recommending it outright until it’s tightened up. That being said, if you don’t care whether a book’s rough, and you like police stories, you might like it.

I purchased this book while it was on a free promotion.



Books by this Author:

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Superhero Spoof Review: The Adventures of Technicality Man by Jessica Meats

The Adventures of Technicality Man
by Jessica Meats

Genre: Superheroes, General Humor, Literature and Fiction

Publication Date: December 19, 2016

Description:
Everyone knows how the stories are supposed to go. The good guys win in the end, the hero ends up with the designated love interest, and the plucky band of misfits pulls together to save the world.
But what happens when a villain targets the nature of stories themselves? All the tropes that the heroes have come to rely on are under threat.

Technicality Man and his trusty companion Continuity Leopard must join forces with a group of minor heroes to save the day. They won’t let any barrier stop them. Not even the fourth wall.

My Review:
Ah, The Adventures of Technicality Man, a book I picked up on NetGalley due to the comic bookish cover and the satirical and corny description.

It was pretty much what I expected, but also not completely so, basically a play on comic book heroes and stories in general. The good guys and the bad guys play their parts, all with clever and highly descriptive names: Technicality Man, Origami Man, Chesty Cough Girl, to name a few. And yeah, their powers are exactly what their names imply. The girl is hilarious, her superpower is to appear highly contagious, which scares off guards and minions.

The other characters, besides the named heroes and villains, are several named cats who are responsible for all normal story conventions. Their names, of course, have everything to do with the elements of the story they control. I thought they were a bit clever and got a kick out of how the heroes knew when one was around or, in one case, summoned one to help them.

It’s not a terribly deep story, but it is amusing. I got through it in a few days, so there’s enough to entertain, but it is short enough to finish in a sitting in an afternoon. Good for a laugh or two if you’re familiar with comic book or hero stories and are game for a laugh or two at their expense.

Overall, I liked the story. It was amusing, clever in places, and light. I’d recommend it to folks who enjoy stories that poke fun at common themes by using those themes in the most obvious of ways. Good stuff.

I received the review copy of this book from NetGalley.

Interested? Add The Adventures of Technicality Man to your shelf on Goodreads.

About the Author:
 
 
Born in the United Kingdom, Jessica Meats is the author of a number of a number of intriguing science fiction books including the Code Name Omega series, the Shadows of Tomorrow series, and Child of the Hive. She also contributed a short story, Reading Between the Lines, to the MCB Quarterly magazine's 5th quarterly anthology.
 
Adding to all that, she has an active blog where she posts reviews, writing advice, and other bookish topics. Definitely worth a look.
 
Author Links:
 
Fiction books by this Author: