The workplace drama continues apace and I feel like some things are coming to a head
The romance is stThis series continues to bump along really well.
The workplace drama continues apace and I feel like some things are coming to a head
The romance is starting to heat up a little. A nice addition to the story.
But it was the mystery in this one that was the winner for me. Holy man, the bad guy's plan was pretty diabolical. And I gotta admit, kinda clever. I really did not expect that to go where it ended up. I wonder if they could have pulled it off?
But I felt really bad for the victim. So I was happy with how things ended up.
I wonder if there is a suspense series written where the main cop goes on a case where a personal friend/family member is never put in jeopardy by the bad guy? It is such a staple of the genre that I think I might faint if I came across an entire series intact where the never happens even once....more
Enjoying my audio foray into this police-procedural-suspense-thriller-light romance hybrid.
This one was good with a lot of twists and turns. I liked tEnjoying my audio foray into this police-procedural-suspense-thriller-light romance hybrid.
This one was good with a lot of twists and turns. I liked the pacing and the way things got revealed, like peeling layers of an onion. Everything builds really nicely.
I did kind of roll my eyes a little with the bad guy's almost preternatural elusiveness, even in the end when surrounded, but it added to the mystery and I understand the end needed to set up a climactic showdown.
I am liking the workplace drama with Bree and her deputies and the adjustments they are going through as a working team. The personal drama is realistic but doesn't work as much for me. I much prefer the mystery/workplace stuff to the home life stuff.
Yeah this was a slog. It started promisingly. Actually really good. But like so many recent NR books it became an exercise in tedium and theDNF at 57%
Yeah this was a slog. It started promisingly. Actually really good. But like so many recent NR books it became an exercise in tedium and the minutia of the work of the main character. She was a yoga/fitness guru and a lot of page space is taken up with her talking about fitness, her pushing her fitness ideas onto people, her line of fitness clothing. And when that isn't happening it is some really mundane slice of life stuff with descriptions of home decor.
There was a stalker/danger subplot that we'd get little dribs of but by the time I gave up nothing had happened. There was still six 1/2 hours of listening to go (this audiobook was a little over 14 hours). I kept zoning out, so I gave up it just wasn't keeping me. ...more
I am not even gonna lie. This book stressed me the fuck out.
This is a nice blend of psychological horror/thriller with a nice dash of romance thrown iI am not even gonna lie. This book stressed me the fuck out.
This is a nice blend of psychological horror/thriller with a nice dash of romance thrown in. The author invoked some of the same themes Jordan Peele did in his movie Get Out to good effect.
There is a kind of suspenseful waiting air in the beginning that is the hallmark of many good psychological horror but as the book continues the momentum picks up to more conventional thriller . The writing was, as is typical with this author, very well done. Since this is about gentrification and the displacement of black and brown bodies, I felt some type of way while reading this, hence the stress.
Not my typical wheelhouse and I appreciate this author's ability to write across many subgenres within romance. But this was a good read....more
This is probably my favorite book in the series so far. And it is packed! This is a full five course meal of a book.
First and foremost, we have CharliThis is probably my favorite book in the series so far. And it is packed! This is a full five course meal of a book.
First and foremost, we have Charlie and Wyrick taking on a new job. Three teenage boys go camping/hiking and only two come back. What really happened out on that trail? And Can Charlie/Wyrick find the missing boy before it is too late?
Just like in the previous two books that centered on missing persons cases, Charlie and Wyrick have a special rhythm when working their case that is simple and methodical PI work. Also since Wyrick is the result of a shady corporation that basically built her from the DNA out, she has a bunch of other special little skills that come in handy when helping to solve cases. We also get POVs of the family members and school friends to help round out the story.
This would have been enough for one whole story but then this book also deals with a one-two sucker punch for Charlie and Wyrick. Charlie's wife Annie's battle with early onset Alzheimer's has taken a turn for the worse and Wyrick finds out some devastating news about the only person other than Charlie that she counts as a friend. These personal developments get a lot of real estate in the book and affect Charlie and Wyrick in their own separate ways. We get to see them grapple with their own griefs separately but also support each other. There is such a great conversation in a parking lot where they both affirm, without frills or ceremony, but with deep conviction 'I got your back."
But that's not all.... The shady corporation, Universal Theorem (UT), that created Wyrick, murdered her mother, treated her like a lab experiment, discarded her when she got cancer for not being 'perfect' and then tried to get her back after she survived it -- are still after her. While she had put a spanking on their leader time and time again, the stakes have gotten massively higher and he isn't out to simply get her back, he now needs to kill her. So we get quite a bit of story for this subplot as well -- Wyrick dodging assassination attempts.
And finally we get a humdinger of a fourth act. Wyrick takes the gloves off in an all out assault on UT while Charlie, true to his word has her back in spades.
Through it all we get some great check ins with persons from their previous cases feature in the other two books in the series. And the book ends on such a great note with Charlie and Wyrick, both having undergone a trial by fire, are seeming to start over in a new place in each others' lives.
This almost felt like it could be a conclusion, but that last chapter makes it clear that it is simply the a close of one chapter for these two and prep for the start of a new one.
Really looking forward to the next one.
Listened on audio and the narrator is great....more
Just as good as the first. Charlie and Wyrick are still total badasses.
In this one Charlie is hired to find a girl who is kidnapped by her father (whoJust as good as the first. Charlie and Wyrick are still total badasses.
In this one Charlie is hired to find a girl who is kidnapped by her father (who is in a cult) and taken to the cult compound to become a "wife" to one of the cult members. The girl, Jordan, is just 12 years old and she is not the only one, as she discovers to her horror when she arrives there.
Normally, I'd shy away from a storyline like this. I have very low tolerance for pedo cultists. But this one was not bad. Jordan acts a super catalyst for change and empowerment of the other girls becaue she has one big advantage they don't -- she was able to send a text to her mother before she was whisked. We get a lot of face time with Jordan and the other girls and Jordan is a little warrior queen! Also this one leans more into its this series' science fictiony aspect that was kinda alluded to in the previous book. In this some of the characters have bona-fide psychic abilities.
Also fun is the fact because of Charlie and Wyrick, the FBI are brought on pretty quickly and things really move as they plot, plan and finally move in to take down the compound. And the rescue is done within the first 3/4 of the book. The last 1/4 is dedicated to a lot of aftermath. I hate when suspense books end abruptly right after the bad guys are caught. Not we get a good amount of book left and get to follow key characters after the cult is brought down.
On a more person front, Charlie is worried and sad about his beloved wife Annie whose early onset Alzheimer's is progressing a lot faster than he anticipated. She is slipping away even faster.
As far as Wyrick goes, she is still an alpha female Übermensch. ...more
I have a certain expectation of a Sharon Sala book but I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. In the end it was different from her other stuff b I have a certain expectation of a Sharon Sala book but I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. In the end it was different from her other stuff but in a good and interesting way.
This one features a private investigator, Charlie Dodge. Charlie has a great repuation as a PI and charges for it accordingly. A lot of that has to do with his assistant Jade Wyrick referred to only by her last name throughout.
Jade is a bit of a wish-fulfillment character that would not be out of place in a James Bond/Mission Impossible movie. She is 6 foot tall, bald (because of cancer that she beat but her hair never came back) and wears her bald head proudly, chose not to have breast reconstruction so she is very flat. She sports an aggressively androgynous look and at the same time she wears outrageously bright leather clothing, flamboyant make up and has a magnificent dragon tattoo that spans her torso and back. She is also super rich, owns several companies, patents, her own chopper (that she also pilots), she is a super hacker, cool as ice and is the product of gene manipulation by a very scary shady corporation that wants her back. Outside of all that she is a kick-ass assistant to Charlies. she uses her mad skillz helping him on his cases while simulataneously being the most efficient, mind-reading assistant any boss could have. Normally, I would roll my eyes with all this, but I liked Wyrick. She is such a big writ-large character that you just want to see what she does next. Also all of that is a lot of window dressing. Wyrick has a surprisingly vulnerable interior. She is self conscious about her looks even as she flaunts it. She also has a crush on Charlie, her boss which she hides through sarcasm and brusqueness.
Which brings me to Charlie. He is a cool customer, smart and supremely competent. There is a reason he rates such high marks as a PI and people are clamoring to hire him. He also has a fairly sad side story in that his wife whom he profoundly loves is suffering from early onset Alzheimer's that is so advance that she is in a care facility that Charlie visits religiously hoping she'll recognize him just once. This is a tragedy because they are only in their forties.
This book centers on what is apparently a kidnapping of the head of a very rich family and CEO of the family's company. Charlie is called in by the man's frantic family to see if he can find him. I liked the way the story unfolded. There were some nice twists and turns and didn't fall into too many suspense cliche's. Charlies does PI work and his approach is methodical and we see how he connects dots. We also get a fair amount of different POVs, lots of family secrets with the family before all the i's are dotted and T's are crossed.
Normally this author writes romance or romantic suspense. I also see this book being shelved as romance, but there isn't any romance in this outside of Charlie's devotion to his wife. We do know that Wyrick has a thing for Charlie but it is only alluded to once or twice. Charlie gets a moment where he really looks at Wyrick and for the first time actually sees her as a beautiful woman. But he shies away from that thought and to the author's credit, this is not belabored. There is no underlying pining or anything. Throughout the book, Charlie and Wyrick remain boss/assistant and and really professional. But yet... there is a little hint that possibly some point in the future they may notice it. But given how the author has created the relationship between Charlies and his wife, any sort of future romance would not be quick or thoughtless.
I listened on audio and the male narrator was very good. I enjoyed this and have the next one in the series queued up....more
I haven't read Sandra a Sandra Brown book since 2010 when I read Smash Cut where I thought the villain was such an over the top cartoon. It really putI haven't read Sandra a Sandra Brown book since 2010 when I read Smash Cut where I thought the villain was such an over the top cartoon. It really put me off her for awhile. But this synopsis intrigued me so I gave it a try.
It was a good, page turning suspense novel. The villain was someone you really wanted to strangle, but at least they weren't a cartoon. Just a run of the mill rom-suspense-thriller villain.
Some twists, some surprised but also some predictable moments.
I enjoyed this even though I think it lagged just a little bit in the middle.
I especially loved the sense of place. The small town with its people andI enjoyed this even though I think it lagged just a little bit in the middle.
I especially loved the sense of place. The small town with its people and its secrets. I give the author credit that she did not make this some utopia small town where everyone farts rainbows and shits sunshine. Yeah, the people all knew each other and came together in a strong and meaningful way when it counted, but they are also looked the other way when they shouldn't have, and the community had some sharply drawn class lines and people across all spectrums exist: great people, assholes, domestic abusers, nurturers etc.
I love that she made almost everyone suspicious plausibly so without being super obvious about it. Some of the perceptions of the townspeople came from Anahera, the main female protagonist and a life long member of the community. We also get the perspective and perceptions of Will, the chief of police and an outsider. Sometimes those two perspectives did not jibe which was realistic and for a reader it allowed me to be even more questioning and suspicious. So this is all perfect for a mystery/thriller.
Even though the book does not (sadly) sidestep the oft used 'heroine in jeopardy' scene in the end nor the villain monologuing. But at least the author made our heroine and hero smart. The hero, Will is a both a trained cop and a trained killer and she allowed his training to take over instead of letting a plot contrivance. And even so she had one more surprise up her sleeve in the end that made the story satisfying.
Even though I had read early reviews and admonishment that "THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE" -- yeah, it isn't technically, but the relationship between the two main protagonists hits a lot of romance check boxes even to them planning to still be together after the close of the book.
All in all, quite enjoyable and I hope Singh writes more with this cast. There are quite a few interesting supporting characters all with some interesting back stories and even some who are in interesting places at the end of the book that it would be nice to revisit them and see where they go....more
Wherein Eve Dallas meets #MeToo only more murderous.
In this one we get an adversary for Eve whose motives are understandable but as far as Eve is concWherein Eve Dallas meets #MeToo only more murderous.
In this one we get an adversary for Eve whose motives are understandable but as far as Eve is concerned, killing is never a good look.
Our first victim is businessman who roofies and uses various other drugs on co-workers and other women he comes in contact with though work. He's particularly terrible and his fate is as well, since he is kidnapped, tortured and his dead body dumped in front of his house with a pityh poem about his woman abusing ways.
Since this is an In Death book and this series has never met a serial killer it didn't like, the death is not a stand alone. And the killer quickly targets and kills another cheater/abuser and another and another. She thinks of herself as a super hero and calls herself Lady Justice.
Eve and Peabody and all the regulars are in effect as they track down the killer. And bring Lady Justice to Justice.
This was a very quick read. I always like it when the victims are awful because IRL it just seems like awful people don't get the justice they deserve and who hasn't had dreams of being some sort of heroic vigilante meting out that justice? In this case I think the book did a good job of making both the victims and the self appointed 'hero' somewhat dislikable so you could be happy with everyon's fate.
As I mentioned in my opening this book is definitely a nod to the current MeToo climate. As Eve is building her case and tracking down potential suspects, she comes across a veritable cornucopia of wronged women. We get a good cross section of the different type of abusers, from the Bill Cosby-type druggers to the Harvey Weinstein/Les Moonves-type sleep with me for advancement or I will kill your career to the Bosses who fondle and grope to the garden variety domestic abusers. Eve even recounts her own MeToo moment to Peabody from her days as a rookie.
With the subject matter (I am all for abusers getting justice) to all the favorites showing up to a qiick and snappy read, I should have liked it more than I did. But it felt.... soulless. There is something about it that just felt it was ticking off a lot of boxes: Roarke uses his skills to hack into a difficult system, Dickhead needs to be bribed to get Eve quick results, Nadine argues with Eve to get a scoop, Reo comes through with a much needed warrant., somebody stole the candy, etc. etc.
Yeah those are nice familiar things but they show up with clock like regularity and just feel overused at this point. In the end I did not feel any real emotional reaction to the book, not happiness or satisfaction, just 'nice quick read' onto to he next thing on my list. ...more
This was a really good installment. It was almost purely police procedural with very littler personal stuff, but the case was a good one that started This was a really good installment. It was almost purely police procedural with very littler personal stuff, but the case was a good one that started out relatively simple: an ex-con who was also an ex-addict is found dead with a syringe. Did he backslide? Of course not! Eve is Homicide and he was murdered. But the his murder spurs off into something bigger and more satisfying.
I like the different turns the case took. Lots of bread crumbs that lead to a major bust.
Other things worth mentioning: The first chapter is an excuse to have almost every major and recurring character come together in a social setting. It is nadine's housewarming and it sounds like a fun party. If a person has become, even tangentially, a part of Eve's inner circle, they were there.
No serial killer in sight. Thank you Jesus! This one features one major murder and some associated murders but not as a result of a serial killer but because they are a natural course because of the criminal element who are at the the center of this case. I wish more of the books worked like this.
So yeah, I liked this one. Nice rebound from the sloggyness that was the previous installment....more
Twisty homage to And Then There Were None. It was an interesting read and really entertaining in some places. Ultimately I don't think I super enjo3.5
Twisty homage to And Then There Were None. It was an interesting read and really entertaining in some places. Ultimately I don't think I super enjoyed it because I didn't really like anyone. But the writing & story are quite good....more
I started this when it came out and just finished it today. It took me forever to get into this book.
It started out interestingEh. A low three stars.
I started this when it came out and just finished it today. It took me forever to get into this book.
It started out interesting and strong. But then it just sorta flatlines into serviceable. Usually if the police procedure/mystery aspect is strong I don't mind if we don't get any real interpersonal development. Or if the interpersonal stuff is great emotionally, then I don't mind if the case is weak.
This one had no real interpersonal stuff happening and the while the mystery/crime had some interesting elements, it just really collapsed on the motive. In the end I didn't really care about the victims. And the criminals were paper flat.
This felt very phoned in. So yeah, serviceable, readable but nothing memorable. Not the worst in the series by a longshot, but nowhere near the better installments either....more
Told in first person POV by the (anti) heroine, Jane, this is a the story of a woman who decides to make a man pay foPretty awesome revenge thriller.
Told in first person POV by the (anti) heroine, Jane, this is a the story of a woman who decides to make a man pay for being an abusive shit.
Jane's only friend in the world Meg has killed herself. And Jane knows why. It is because poor Meg, who has only ever wanted to find love, latched on to the wrong man. Steven is a master emotional manipulator and abuser. If you ever want to read about how gaslighting in emotional domestic abuse works, read this. It provides a great example of it. By the end of it, Meg didn't know if she were coming or going so she ended it.
Jane is a sociopath. How do we know this? Because she tells us over and over and over and over again. This is one thing about the book that I could have done less with. Jane bludgeoning us over the head with reminding us that she is a sociopath. We got it the first ten times, Jane.
Other than that, it is rather nice to have a woman who decides to mete out punishment and feel literally no qualms about it. There is not one single moment of self doubt. She never feels sorry for her quarry and she doesn't really even care about the possible collateral damage to the people closest to him she may cause. But it was great to see her doing to manipulations and watch her step by step by step lead this pig man to his downfall.
What was also gratifying was the the author didn't go the mistaken route of making Jane a non-feeling robot. Sociopaths can create emotional connections, hence Jane's need to avenge her friend. she also puzzlingly (to her) finds herself adopting a cat and tip-toeing into a real romantic relationship.
For a psychological thriller, I didn't find this story to be too dark at all. Maybe because I was so in sympathy in Jane's cause, I felt just the right amount of righteous while reading this....more
If Nora Roberts and her alter ego JD Robb co-wrote a book together, this is the book that would be.
There are a lot of familiar Nora Roberts e3.5 stars
If Nora Roberts and her alter ego JD Robb co-wrote a book together, this is the book that would be.
There are a lot of familiar Nora Roberts elements in this one. The heroine is an artist with a bent toward the fantastical. She has a free spirited grandmother who dabbles in wicca and talks about the three-fold rule. The hero is low-key, charming and affable. There is a whole section where we get a detailed description of the hero's fantastic house.
But the hero is also a cop who speaks an awful lot like Eve Dallas when he is in cop mode. And the main villain is a serial killer that would be right at home with the endless pantheon of serial killers in the In Death series.
Overall, I liked this book. The beginning with the mass shooting and all the different people & personalities involved was well written. I wasn't sure how I would feel reading about a mass shooting in a mall given the current climate, but I think because so much of that part of it was spent in the headspace of three of the main characters and focused mainly on their actions, reactions, thoughts and feelings, rather than a wholesale description of the shooting, there was a little bit of a remove from the violence.
The first half of the book followed the hero/heroine separately as they grow from the aftermath of the shooting. They were teenagers when it happened. Reed, the hero, becomes a cop and Simone, the heroine, acts out quite a bit in small self-destructive ways until finding her center as an artist.
They don't actually meet until well into the second part of the book. Hence, the suspense part of 'romantic suspense' takes way more real estate than the romance part. In fact when they do meet and get together their romance is a basic no-conflict getting together. They meet, they re attracted they become a couple. So the thrust of the book is the shooting and the antagonist that comes to the fore after the shooting.
And this is where the book loses me a bit. I admit it is a bit of a personal taste thing with me. But I hate being in the villain's headspace so much. Especially one that is just evil for evil's sake. It isn't enough to make them a mass murdering serial killer, but also racist and homophobic to boot. There is no 'why' to what they do except some vague talk about bullying as a kid and just being a sociopath I guess. Honestly, I found the villain to be just too, too much and rather tedious after awhile. I especially thought it was convenient plotting to make them have bottomless resources, seemingly have an endless supply of fake Ids and credit cards to go with those ids, lots of ready cash, is an expert at computer hacking, surveillance, changing their appearance, has an 'itch at the back of their neck' instinct for danger or survival, and have a 160 IQ so they are so smart about everything. Basically this is the quintessential plot armor villain where all obstacles are miraculously cleared from their killing path until the final showdown.
There is a lot of charm in the story and some great characterizations, but the villain really knocks the book down for me.
I listened to this on audio and the narrator was seriously excellent. She had a nice variety of voices for all the character. She did a nicely inflected Indian accent for a smallish scene with a doctor. She does a nice New England accent, not too broad or put on sounding. She can make the older characters sound aged and the young children characters sound childlike. I even think there was one Af-Am character who code switched a little. So yeah, she gets a half star all on her own....more
Middling installment. Took me forever to become engaged in the story, the mystery and the victims/murderer. Since this one had very little in the way Middling installment. Took me forever to become engaged in the story, the mystery and the victims/murderer. Since this one had very little in the way of personal plot development for the regular characters, the mystery and the "guest" characters had to do all the heavy lifting. But I really didn't care one way or another for any of them.
That said, this is was serviceable police procedural installment....more
Probably my least favorite installment of the series. This felt like a 'let's see how much shit she can pile upon our heroes.' It felt both relentlessProbably my least favorite installment of the series. This felt like a 'let's see how much shit she can pile upon our heroes.' It felt both relentless and treading water at the same time. Still like the series but hope the next one feels different. This one had a samey-ness to it that makes the series feel like it really isn't progressing....more
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