Month: December 2020

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#BookReview: Legends by David Wood

Action Packed Quick Hits. This is a collection of short stories and a novella that work well to both allow long time fans of the series to have a bit more fun reading about the team’s adventures (mostly alone or with just Maddock and Bones) and to allow new readers a chance to sample the overall style of the universe without necessarily committing to an entire book to get a complete story. Overall truly a fun, quick read and great for when you maybe only have a few minutes at a time to read.

A note for those familiar with Wood’s other recent book, SERPENT: VENOM is the novella here, which features the same creature as SERPENT… except it is the same creature in name only. The entire characterization of the creature, from the way it looks to the way it behaves to the secrets behind it, are entirely different between the two tales, and indeed really the only similarities at all are that Bones is in both, they are both set in the same general place on the planet, and they feature a giant snake they both use the same name to denote. So don’t be afraid to read *both* stories. 😀

Excellent collection, and very much recommended.

This review of Legends by David Wood was originally written on December 16, 2020.

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#BookReview: Lie, Lie Again by Stacy Wise

Less Thriller, More Women’s Fiction. This book starts out sounding like it could be a thriller – the prologue ends with a body at the bottom of a set of stairs. But then it turns out to be more of a women’s fiction character study featuring an insecure mom, a teacher who babysits for the mom and fantasizes about the dad, and a conniving survivor who will expertly manipulate anyone to ensure she gets what she wants. The bulk of the book does a decent job of making you question just which of the men will be at the bottom of the stairs, but then when it happens… it is a bit rushed and maybe even a bit anticlimactic. Still, a great story that will have you invested in at least one of its three leads. Very much recommended.

This review of Lie, Lie Again by Stacy Wise was originally written on December 16, 2020.

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Featured New Release Of The Week: The Last To See Her by Courtney Evan Tate

This week we’re looking at a solid escapism tale where virtually none of the characters come out likeable. This week we’re looking at The Last To See Her by Courtney Evan Tate.

Here’s what I had to say about the book on Goodreads and Bookbub:

Solid Story Full Of Unlikable Characters. This is one of those stories where *none* of the characters come out looking overly rosy. The characters that are developed well are either assholes or idiots, and the characters that aren’t developed so well seem to barely be caricatures. That said, the story is solid enough and compelling enough that once you get into it, you’re going to want to finish it. And sometimes, that level of escapism is really all you need. Particularly with when this book is slated to release, barely a week before Christmas, it could be near-perfect counter-programming escapism for the season. Recommended.

Below the jump, the first 2.5 ish pages of the book! 🙂
Continue reading “Featured New Release Of The Week: The Last To See Her by Courtney Evan Tate”

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#BookReview: The First Cell by Azra Raza

The Myth Of (Cancer) Experience. This book actually does a phenomenal job of using both hard data and anecdotal case studies to show what the current state of cancer research and treatment is – and why it is costing us far too much in both lives and dollars. This is a cancer doc/ researcher who has been in the field longer than this reader has been alive, and yet she attacks the problem in a way that genuinely makes sense: if cancer is effectively a group of cells that begin replicating uncontrollably, the best way to eliminate this phenomenon is to detect these cells as early as possible and eliminate them before they become problematic. Using several patient case studies – including her husband, who apparently started out as her boss, and her daughter’s best friend among them – Raza does an excellent job of providing names and faces (yes, the book has pictures of the patients as well) to go along with the alarming yet decently documented data. (Roughly 18% of the book is bibliography, which is perhaps a touch low – 25-30% is more typical – but is better than one might expect from such a case study driven narrative.) Ultimately this book actually makes the case for The Myth of Experience better than the authors of the book by that title did, which is actually fairly interesting to this reader. 🙂 And the Urdu poetry (with English translations as well) was a nice touch to lighten a text that could otherwise be a bit dreary. Very much recommended.

This review of The First Cell by Azra Raza was originally written on December 13, 2020.

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#BookReview: Heart Of The Violist by Maddie Evans

Excellent Start To New Series. With this book, Evans “officially” begins a new series that had a “soft opening” with the novella Faking The Harmony. Here, we really begin to see what makes the Castleton Family click… by having an interloper threaten to destroy all that they hold dear. Except this interloper… may just be exactly what he is claiming to be. Another excellent novelization of the very real-life issues faced with DNA testing, along with some solid discussion with real-world facts about the differences between the various DNA testing companies (all of whom are fictionalized in the text here) and how they operate. This is easily read as just a solid Hallmark-ish romance, the extra commentary just adds a bit of extra depth and real-world gravitas to the already solidly grounded tale. Excellent work, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how the unresolved threads of the Castleton Family hash out. Very much recommended.

This review of Heart of the Violist by Maddie Evans was originally written on December 12, 2020.

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Featured New Release Of The Week: Take It Back by Kia Adbullah

This week we’re looking at a strong British courtroom thriller that seems to set up a new series. This week we’re looking at Take It Back by Kia Abdullah.

Writer’s block still plagues me, but here’s the Goodreads/ BookBub review:

Nuanced Courtroom Thriller. This is an interesting one. One with a main protagonist that… has several rough edges, at least a couple of which come back to bite her. One with a strong commentary about the role of Muslims in British (and by slight extension, Western) society, at many different levels. One with a strong discussion of what it means to be the “other”… in so many different ways. And one with secrets almost literally to the last word. Tremendous book, and very much recommended.

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#BookReview: A Summer To Remember by Erika Montgomery

Finding Answers Both Expected And Not. This was a solid tale from multiple perspectives across dual timelines of some people searching for answers, others running from them, and everyone arriving at the unexpected. As a debut novel, it does a great job in making me want to see what other stories this author has to tell, as this one was excellent and very well written. In a sense, it uses the standard trope of trying to find one’s parents, but it also does a superb job of upending the trope a bit and putting an interesting spin on it in so many ways. Truly a great read, and very much recommended.

This review of A Summer To Remember by Erika Montgomery was originally written on December 6, 2020.

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#BookReview: The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

Compelling Family Drama. This one was pretty wild. On the one hand, you’ve got one twin sister who seems to be Autistic, though that word is never once used. Instead, Hepworth simply claims various “sensory processing disorders” (many of them very similar to this Autistic’s own, fwiw) and shows this twin taking things very literally, not reading people very well, etc. IOW, classic signs of Autism – but again, that word is never once used in the text. Which is both cool and irritating. The other twin is a diabetic that feels she must always protect her Autistic sister. Except… let’s just say the twins don’t always remember the same events the same way. 😉 Deeper into the book, a much larger conspiracy develops that really turns the back half of the book to near breakneck speeds. And then those last words… Truly excellent book, even without the use of the one word, and very much recommended.

This review of The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth was originally written on December 5, 2020.

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#BookReview: Princess of Hollywood by Maggie Dallen

Atypical Dallen, Still Awesome. Dallen is mostly known for her bubblegum pop YA romances or her Hallmarkie contemporary romances. Here, we get much more of a soap opera feel, which is atypical of her. Still, the level of drama here is typical Dallen, and the writing itself is her usual excellence. Indeed, the *only* thing I didn’t expect – since I was expecting this to be Book 2 of a Duology – was that cliffhanger ending! Several plot points from the first book are resolved here, and you absolutely need to read Book 1 of this series before reading this one. But then you’ll be begging for the next book immediately! 🙂 Very much recommended.

This review of Princess of Hollywood by Maggie Dallen was originally written on December 2, 2020.

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Featured New Release Of The Week: Memories In The Drift by Melissa Payne

This week we’re looking at a book that I’ve been talking about for weeks, one that made me cry unlike any this year. This week, we’re looking at Memories In The Drift by Melissa Payne.

Here, the Goodreads review below really does sum up my thoughts on the book quite well. It is a very well told, very visceral look at memory loss and pain, and it is so gut-wrenching it will leave you breathless. Truly one of the best books I’ve read this year for that very reason.

Prepare To Cry. Holy hell y’all. This book is one of the more tragic and yet also visceral books about memory loss I’ve encountered to date, bringing you into the mind of the person more than any other I’ve yet encountered. And it is also the one that made me *BAWL* unlike any since Barbara O’Neal’s 2019 WHEN WE BELIEVED IN MERMAIDS. Which was over 300 books ago for me. If you’re looking for a great story and a good cry, you’ve found one here. And just to be crystal clear, it isn’t like the things that make you cry are hidden – in both cases I picked up on them about a quarter ish of the book before Payne actually explicitly revealed them. And yet the execution on the actual reveal was so gut punching both times… wow. Very much recommended.