Murray McDonald: Scion

Click to see in Amazon

Fast action sometimes unbelievable escapism
This is an over-the-top fast-action global and political conspiracy with scores of assassins on the side of the goodies and the baddies. If you like such escapism then this is a great page-turner for you. If you like a bit of a reality check then this may be too far fetched for you.

Scott (no surname, no passport) is wrongly arrested in the UK for rape. Scott grew up as a shipwrecked orphan on a small island near Borneo, not knowing the identity of both of his parents.  He is now nearly 25 years old (a key age in the plot) and has become a highly connected and dangerous undercover international government assassin.  What he doesn't realise is that his whole life is closely connected to one of the biggest power grabbing conspiracies on the globe.

I enjoyed "Divide and Conquer" and "Critical Error" but felt that the plot in this book was not only a bit over-the-top but there were so many different characters (especially on the baddie side) that it was hard to keep track of them. The action was frequently too unreal with the baddies being able to do so many things and influence so many people at the drop of a hat. On the other hand when the goodies got stuck into the baddies, less than half a dozen of them were able to take down dozens of well organised and highly dangerous baddies. Probably one of the best parts of the plot was the twist in the tale right at the end that I didn't anticipate.

This is one of the hardest books to rate. My head says that it should be 2.5 stars, my heart says that it should be 3.5 stars, and I know that thriller junkies would give it 4+ stars. On balance I settled on 3 stars.

H W "Buzz" Bernard: Eyewall

Click to see in Amazon

A must for hurricane junkies
If you are fascinated by hurricanes and the way that TV channels follow the weather then you will love this book. The author H.W. "Buzz" Bernard is a retired meteorologist who worked for thirteen years at the Atlanta-based Weather Channel and knows a lot about these areas.

The book starts dramatically with a C130 plane deliberately flying into the "eyewall" (the centre) of a hurricane to better measure its intensity and direction. When they reach the "eyewall" they enter a breathtaking vision of virtually cloudless skies and calm winds but are surrounded by a circular mass of seething clouds of the rest of the hurricane. This is the Stadium Effect, the feeling of being in a vast stadium where the stands are the hurricane itself.

On the ground a TV meteorologist believes that the intensity of the hurricane is greater than forecast and that it could be headed to low lying areas that need to be evacuated. The sub-plots revolve around the dangers and dramas faced by people who have not evacuated or refused to evacuate and the consequences of damage to the plane when it flies into a far more intensive storm than expected.

As I have never experienced a hurricane (or cyclone in my home country, Australia) I am not a hurricane junkie and found the story to a be a bit contrived to showcase  the knowledge and experience of the author. If you are a hurricane junkie, like my wife who believes that every severe storm is a mini cyclone, you will love this book and the drama surrounding the hurricane experience. Personally I rated the book at 3 stars but others with far more interest in hurricanes/cyclones than I do would probably give it a 4 star rating.

Andrew Peterson: First to Kill

Click to see in Amazon

A turbo-charged thriller
Congratulations Andrew Peterson, this is a fast moving page-turning thriller with a heap of great action to keep your attention to the very last page.

We meet Nathan McBride, an ex CIA covert ops type with special forces and sniper background who has parted company after a near-death kidnapping and torture in Nicaragua. He has all the skills to make him a super hero to follow through from adventure to adventure. Even more interesting is the fact that Natham's estranged father is a Senator and Chairman of an important Senate Committee on security.

Natham and his partner Harvey now operate a high powered prosperous security company which will take on any dangerous task offered to them. They are surprised when the retired chief of the FBI asks them to find out what has happened to his son who has disappeared after being undercover for the FBI with a red-neck group thought to have imported a vast amount of Semtex explosive into the US. What is even more surprising is that they are asked to support an FBI attack on the group's headquarters without the SWAT team being aware of their existence.

When the action gets serious the relationship between the FBI and Natham and Harvey is interesting, especially because they are prepared to do violent things that the FBI cannot be associated with. At the start this is a real problem, especially between the attractive female FBI team leader and Natham.

I nearly gave it 5 stars, but dropped the rating because some of the plot was a bit over the top and unbelievable. Despite this, it was great to find another Indie author of CIA/FBI/politico thrillers who can write an exciting page-turner thriller. I will certainly read the Andrew Peterson's other books in the Natham McBride series.

Sandra Edwards: The Memory Bouquet

Click to see in Amazon

What a con - it isn't a novella but a prequel
The book description says that it is a short novella. What a con - it isn't a novella but a very short and (IMHO) not very good prequel for "The Lonely Hearts Club" (still to be released). If you write a prequel then the real book or series should be available or coming soon. I got this so called novella in March and would have forgotten everything about it by now if I was interested in the real book (which I am not).

In my view a novella is a short stand-alone novel around 75-100 pages.  They test the author's skills in being able to write a complete and satisfying story within the page limitations and I have read a couple of really good ones lately. This "novella" is just a jumble of introductory chapters that didn't even whet my appetite for more.

J.A. Redmerski: The Edge of Never

Click to see in Amazon

Well written contemporary romance
Contemporary romance is not my normal genre (I'm normally into fast action thrillers) but from time to time I have a break and read something lighter. In some ways this was lighter, but not really because both characters had a lot of bad history to face up to.

At only 20 years Cam has faced serious depression from family problems, the death of the her much loved boy friend and a breakup with her long-time best girl friend. She tries to escape to nowhere to find herself. I really liked her choice of nowhere - when buying a bus ticket she sees the ticket seller is eating a baked potato and decides to go to Ohio, the home of potatoes.

Andrew is taking the bus to his dying father's bedside so that he can have time to work out how he feels about life. He meets and protects Cam and without knowing it they gradually come together as a couple and decide to travel to nowhere together. Andrew tells her "Live in the moment, where everything is just right, take your time and limit your bad memories and you'll get wherever it is a lot faster..." Little do they know how true this is.

There is strong sexual tension between them which takes time to release as both of them are slow to commit to the inevitable. The steamy parts are well written, but are only part of the journey. The finale hits hard with an unexpected twist in the tale.

Overall I found the book took some time to get moving and was a bit too long because of unnecessary digressions into contemporary rock music. I find this book hard to rate because I can't really associate with the culture as I don't live in the US and have little appreciation of contemporary rock music having grown up in the 1950's and 60's. The first part of the book was slow and the descriptions of contemporary music were completely foreign to me. But I could see why the book has been enjoyed by the younger-set, especially from the US, so was not harsh in my rating because I couldn't completely empathise with the characters.

Personally I would give this a 3 star rating but have raised it to 4 star because because it is well written and that is how most of the audience out there would have judged it.

Nora Roberts: The Witness

Click to see in Amazon

One of Nora Roberts' best
Norah Roberts has written so many books it is difficult to decide which are the best - but this one must be in my top 10. It does not strictly follow Roberts' normal romantic suspense formula and the feminine lead is different because she is still trying to hide from had a terrible trauma when she was a teenager.

Abigail Lowery is hiding from her past when at age 16 she witnessed a Russian Mafia assassination and was then nearly killed in an attack on a police safe-house when she was under witness protection before the trial of the Mafia hit-man and the son of the Mafia boss. Twelve years later she is still on the run and lives an almost solitary life guarded by advanced security systems, a guard dog and an arsenal of firearms. The only person who can penetrate her isolation is Brooks Gleason, the local police chief who has recently returned home to his loving family.

The interaction between the scared, reclusive but very intelligent and clever young woman who didn't have a loving childhood and a skilled, personable and friendly police chief is well played. Unwittingly Abigail drops her guard as the attraction between the couple grows and she gets exposed for the first time in her life to a loving family.

Abigail's conundrum is that she will never be able to live a normal life until the Mafia threat has been faced and eliminated. As usual Norah Roberts builds on the relationship as she builds up the tension. The finale is cleverly schemed and orchestrated.

M Leighton: The Wild Ones

Click to see in Amazon

The sorbet melted quickly
I read this book as a sorbet between servings of pretty heavy thrillers. The first half was pretty well written, with very clear sexual chemistry between the key players and signs of trouble ahead when the chemistry turned into something serious. But when the troubles started to unravel my sorbet melted quickly as they were pretty ridiculous.

The Wild Ones was a misnomer, especially as the steamy parts were pretty tame. Naming the key male character Trick was pretty thoughtless when that word is normally related to the world of a hooker.  And the last words of the book were "THE HAPPILY-EVER-AFTER END" - oh dear!

Christopher Smith: Bullied #1

Click to see in Amazon

A magic solution to bullying

This first novella of a series of 4 introduces us to Seth, who is nearly 18 years old living with drunken parents in a trailer park, with no self respect or confidence because he has been emotionally and physically bullied all of his school life. When he starts his last year at school an old man at the park gives him an amulet necklace containing a piece of human bone and tells him that, used properly, the magic powers of amulet will help him to counter bullying and create a better life. The old man warns Seth to be careful as the powers of the amulet could cause harm to others as well as to himself.

Seth's first day of school is dramatic as he explores how to use the power of the amulet to counter both bullying students of both sexes and the disinterest of  his teachers. For the first time Seth finds some self confidence and as a result makes a couple of friends, Alex and Jennifer, who look set to support and follow him. The novella ends dramatically in a way that opens the way for vengeance down the track.

Most of us will have experienced some kind of emotional or physical bullying during our school days and will identify in some way to the extreme bullying and the bullies that Seth faces. With the power of the amulet as a great plot opener Christopher Smith introduces us to the roller coaster ride that converts a downtrodden youth into a powerful and vengeful person. While I am not a fantasy person the idea is an interesting one and I will go along with the ride, at least for the next novella. The latter 2 novellas appear to tend to the supernatural and I will pass judgement when I get there.

Christopher Smith: The Bullied Series Box Set

Click to see in Amazon

Bullied part was almost OK but the fantasy was stupid
In my review of Book One I said that the concept of an magic amulet that would help someone to overcome bullying was a great plot opener to a roller coaster ride by Christopher Smith to convert a downtrodden youth into a powerful and vengeful person. I also said that the other novellas in the series appeared to tend to the supernatural and I would pass judgement when I got there.

I decided to read the next novella, "Revenge" in this boxed set, where Seth sets out to revenge the death of his parents in a fire lit deliberately by his school bullies (of both sexes). He takes the advice of Jim, who gave him the amulet, not to kill them but to make sure that they will be punished throughout life for what they did. One of the solutions was ingenious in starting one of them on a life of crime (and jail) from which he could never escape, but another was downright stupid where a girl was made to behave like a pig in the cafeteria and would eat so much that she would gain weight throughout her life to dangerous levels. My tolerance was starting to wear thin at that stage.

Then at the end of "Revenge" the stupidity really started when Seth is attacked by 2 paranormals seeking to steal the amulet, helped by a beautiful and even more dangerous Witch. To protect himself (even though he has only just started to understand the power of the amulet) Seth is able to turn himself into a flying Superman, with an impenetrable shield, and transform his hands into guns and knives that eventually kill the attackers and drives away the Witch. Oh dear, what rubbish.

I did read the start of the next novella but the paranormal tripe got worse. This was too much for me and I couldn't stomach any more stupidity and didn't read any further. It's a long time since I have failed to finish a book.

Michael Connelly: The Black Box

Click to see in Amazon

Bloodhound Bosch is still the best
After so many Harry Bosch stories you would think they should start to run out of steam - IMHO this is not so. Michael Connelly is a consummate author who can keep a great character running and evolving and continue to produce a top-class page-turning police procedural.

In the last book, after a short retirement Harry Bosch returned to the LAPD with  a 5 year contract under the Deferred Retirement Option Plan - "The DROP".  He now works with the Open Unsolved Unit chasing up cold cases. In 1999, at the height of the LA Riots, Bosch briefly gets involved with the discovery of the gunshot death of  a pretty female free-lance Danish press photographer who was apparently killed as part of the riot.  This case had always troubled Bosch and he gladly accepts the challenge although after all that time the trail has gone cold.

Bosch is an impatient detective - to him momentum is everything. Once he is on the trail he is a bloodhound who never lets up until he finds a break. He calls this "The Black Box" because, similar to air crash investigation a single verified clue may open up the whole case. After diligent and clever police work Bosch finds his Black Box and discovers a web of intrigue and violence going back to the first Gulf War.

Working the case in his normal independent manner is not helped by his a strained relationship with and lack of respect for the competence of his superiors at LAPD, especially his current Lieutenant (O'Toole - nickname "O'Fool").  "You are the worst kind of police officer, Bosch. You are arrogant, a bully, and you think the laws and regulations don't apply to you." O'Toole refers Bosch to Internal Affairs on what seems to be a petty matter, but it is important because it affects the way Bosch can run the investigation and if the complaint is upheld he could easily lose his job because he is on a DROP contract.

Connelly keeps up the pressure and spins an exciting tale of skilled police investigation by a dedicated, independent but somewhat personally flawed Harry Bosch. I recommend this book as a great read for lovers of police procedurals.