Fun and Flirty. Excellent debut novel from Kristi Rose. Mostly fun and light hearted, with just enough suspense to pull the heartstrings.
This review of The Girl He Knows by Kristi Rose was originally published on February 19, 2018.
#BookReview: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Fundamentally Flawed, But With Some Good Points And Multitudinous Evidence. Overall, Alexander’s work has some good points – mostly when it concerns examining the United States’ mass incarceration system as a whole. Its fundamental fatal flaw however its its central tenet- that this mass incarceration system is a system of *racial*, rather than class, control. But at least Alexander documents her case well, even when only citing evidence from a particular strain of thought that happens to agree with her own. Worth reading – highly recommended even – for the examination of the mass incarceration system and its effects as a whole , but severely hampered in its attempts to portray the system as “just another way to keep the black man down”. In that central tenet, it does its greatest disservice to showing the full monstrosity that is the US mass incarceration system.
This review of The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander was originally published on February 18, 2018.
#BookReview: End in the Beginning by Gary Williams and Vicky Knerly
Epic Conclusion. In this truly epic conclusion to the God Tools Trilogy, the fate of humanity is at stake as the three God Tools come together with various human elements. This is the most fantastical book in the trilogy, the first one where the fantasy elements nearly override the human. But Williams and Knerly give a more complete ending than many stories do, and it works with what they had previously established.
This review of End in the Beginning by Gary Williams and Vicky Knerly was originally published on February 12, 2018.
#BookReview: Evil in the Beginning by Gary Williams and Vicky Knerly
Great continuation with a cliffhanger ending. The first several chapters seemingly introduce new characters every chapter, but by the midway point many of these characters start meeting up. And by the end of the story, the first and second God Tools are revealed… and a clock has started up for one of our heroes. Will the other hero save the day in time in book three? That is left for us to find out…
This review of Evil in the Beginning by Gary Williams and Vicky Knerly was originally published on February 11, 2018.
#BookReview: Death in the Beginning by Gary Williams and Vicky Knerly
Intriguing and Unique. In all my years of reading, I’ve never encountered a book that had the same epicenter as this story – and I’ve easily read over 500 books in my life! The action and mystery are well paced, with astonishing reveals even onto the final page of the book. Extremely well done, looking forward to the rest of this trilogy.
This review of Death in the Beginning by Gary Williams and Vicky Knerly was originally published on February 8, 2018.
#BookReview: Solar Island by Rick Chesler
In this one, Shores – scarred for life from an unfortunate trauma involving water in her childhood – yet again finds herself at sea investigating a possible crime. Once again, the mystery builds nicely and the action is well paced, but once again – as was the case in KiDNApped – the tale ends abruptly following the final battle sequence. But partial stars aren’t allowed in most rating systems, and this and the book’s one other flaw were not enough to ding it the .56 of a star that would round to a 4 star review. Maybe take a tenth of a point off for each, but that still leaves at a 4.8 which obviously rounds to 5.
The other flaw? The mocking of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and the seasteading initiatives being worked by at least a few people. It was unnecessary in showing how unhinged the primary antagonist had become.
This review of Solar Island by Rick Chesler was originally published on February 4, 2018.
#BookReview: kiDNApped by Rick Chesler
Nicely paced plot with some interesting twists along the way. The only thing I wish it had was an epilogue. The ending feels a tad abrupt.
This review of kiDNApped by Rick Chesler was originally published on February 2, 2018.
#BookReview: Wired Kingdom by Rick Chesler
At 400+ pages, the longest I’ve read this year – but never felt like it. The story was very well paced, with a few surprising twists. And dammit, now I want a real Wired Kingdom. Thoroughly enjoyed this book.
This review of Wired Kingdom by Rick Chesler was originally published on January 31, 2018.
#BookReview: Fatal Pursuit by Elisabeth Naugton
In this one, the mortal peril isn’t anywhere near as major as it was in the first two books, though there is certainly at least some of that. But with this book, Naughton makes the emotional peril so much stronger than in the other two books, in part because the two leads are even more stubborn than any of the four preceding leads.
This review of Fatal Pursuit by Elisabeth Naughton was originally published on January 29, 2018.
#BookReview: Lethal Consequences by Elisabeth Naughton
Excellent tale continuing the Aegis story with secondary characters from Extreme Measures (and fairly blatantly setting up the couple for the next book in the series). Not quite as much action as the first, but in some ways even more powerful due to the stakes involved.
This review of Lethal Consequences by Elisabeth Naughton was originally published on January 24, 2018.