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BOOK REVIEW: Free Fall by Catherine Mann

/ Linda / Leave a comment

This book is my all time favorite book by this author.  It is part of the Elite Forces series.  It works well as a stand alone book.

Pararescueman Jose Cuervo James is 100% committed to his job and leaves no room for anything else.  He is also a recovering alcoholic who can’t seem to come to terms with his past.  Stella Carson is an undercover Interpol agent hoping for the “white picket fence” some day.  She became an agent in hopes of finding out what really happened to her missionary mother who died in Africa.  They are brought together on a high-risk rescue deep in the African jungle.

The author focuses  on the mission of rescuing Stella and her fellow hostages and preventing an attack on the US Embassy and First Lady of the United States.  Stella and Jose’s romance develops slowly as we learn about each of their pasts with all their flaws and imperfections.

The author writes an intriguing, captivating story with very likable characters.  The story is fast-paced and filled with edge of your seat suspense with a few surprises thrown in.  You feel like you are in the middle of all the action.  There are subplots that keep the story moving and your interest piqued.  It’s a book you just can’t put down!

BOOK REVIEW: The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin

/ Linda / Leave a comment

We’re all familiar with the story of Charles Lindbergh and his place in history, but what of his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh?  We can barely recall her accomplishments in aviation history, as those accomplishments were overshadowed by her husband and Amelia Earhart.  Many people don’t know Anne was the first American woman to earn a first-class glider pilot’s license, or that without Anne, Charles would not have been able to achieve all his successes.

Author Melanie Benjamin takes us on a journey through the incredible life of Anne Morrow, using her imagination to weave a riveting story blending fact with fiction.  From Anne’s early days as the daughter of an Ambassador and student at Smith College, to wife, mother, aviator, writer, and person living in the shadow of a famous man, the author does a wonderful job of peeling back the layers of this complex and talented woman.  We also learn that Charles Lindbergh really wasn’t the hero everyone thought he was.

This is a well written, well researched book that keeps your attention.  I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting!  It also would be an excellent book club selection.

Book Review: The City’s Son by Tom Pollock

/ Sharon Tyler / 1 Comment

[Cover]

The City’s Son

The City’s Son by Tom Pollock is an urban fantasy novel which marks the debut of the author. The book is suitable for young adults and adults.

Beth Bradley is a rebel, and a girl great with a can of spray paint. She spend her fee time tagging the city, while her friend Pen scrawls poetry to accompany it. Beth’s father is lost in grief over his late wife, and Pen is trapped by the expectations and demands of others. After a daring evening an apparent betrayal separates the friends and sends them both out into a world born of the very essence of London. They have very different paths, and different dreams. Beth meets Urchin, the prince of the streets who opens her eyes to the layers of the world around her. The city and all of its components are alive, and there is a major battle brewing. Reach, a source of death and destruction, is trying to rise, and the city’s creature are abuzz with rumors that Urchin’s Goddess and mother might be returning to fight the final battle. But when the battle is over, who will have won and what will the final price be?

The City’s Son is a original and engaging read. Beth is a risk taker, and is so used to making her own decisions that she does no bow to the voices of those who expect her to. A prince, his people, and their expectations can not withstand her will. She is a strong girl, but still carries a vulnerability that makes her feel real. The collection of the city’s creatures were imaginative an believable. I could easily see some of those statues coming to life, of reflections in skyscrapers taking on a life of their own. The mix of imagination and absolute reality come together perfectly. I will admit to looking at light bulbs, telephone wires, and bricks in a different way since finishing the book.

I highly recommend The City’s Son to teens and adults that like urban fantasy novels that carry with it a fresh perspective of the world, and yourself. There is just as much exploration into what Beth, Pen, and others want as there is the physical world around them.  The story is unique, with a skill in building a world that exists along side our own that reminds me of Neil Gaiman and Holly Black’s work. The introduction to a society that very well could be real, but since we are so good at ignoring what we do not want to see I doubt we would ever notice it. If you are looking for something fun, adventurous, and different then this is a must read!

A version of this review was previously posted on Sharon the Librarian.

BOOK REVIEW – The Third Bullet

/ Deborah R. / Leave a comment

The Third Bullet by Stephen Hunter

Who really did kill JFK?  Fifty years and multiple official reports later, there are still those who doubt that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. In The Third Bullet,  retired Vietnam sniper Bob Lee Swagger tackles the granddaddy of all conspiracy theories.  Using facts from the Warren Commission and his own extensive knowledge of ballistics, Swagger constructs a complicated but plausible theory of what might have happened if a shadowy rogue agent who wanted Kennedy dead used Oswald as the fall guy.  The unforgettable Swagger, older and more cerebral than he was in his first appearance in Point of Impact (1992), still has what it takes in his eighth outing as an action hero.  Have yet to make Swagger’s acquaintance? He is a younger (though not by much) more polite version of Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. Want more  thrillers focusing on the Kennedy assassination?  Try Don DeLillo’s Libra, Stephen King’s 11/22/63 or James Ellroy’s American Tabloid.

Deborah

BOOK REVIEW – Killing Time by Cindy Gerard

/ Linda / Leave a comment

Once again New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cindy Gerard delivers a story that keeps her readers on the edge of their seats.  It’s filled with red-hot, non-stop action told so vividly you think you are right in the middle of the action.  ‘Killing Time’ is the first book in her new series called One Eyed Jacks.

Mike Brown is a Navy veteran who was dishonorably discharged 8 years earlier for a mission in Afghanistan that went horribly wrong.  He spends his time languishing in Lima, Peru riddled with guilt, grief, rage , and self-destruction.  The eighth anniversary of the day that mission went sour finds Mike in a small cantina getting drunk.  A beautiful woman is at the cantina, dancing seductively and seeming only to have eyes for Mike.  He decides this is about to become his  lucky day not knowing the lady has other ideas.

Eva Salina is an attorney for the CIA.  A classified file gets anonymously delivered to her outlining the details of a secret  mission that went wrong 8 years ago – one in which her husband was killed.  She assumes whoever gave her the file wants her to investigate the incident.  After hitting one dead end after another in the States, she ends up in Peru to track down one of the three survivors of the mission.

What follows is fast paced action, luscious scenery, battles, treachery, mystery, intrigue, blood, sweat and tears, twists and turns and surprises that take you from Peru to Washington, D.C., to Quebec, to the mountains of Idaho.  The characters are tough, raw, and dangerous.  But what makes you fall in love with them is their vulnerability, their insecurities, their faults, their determination, their sense of right and wrong.  This is a book you want to allow plenty of time to read because you are not going to want to put it down.

NOTE:  To our Male Readers – This book is located in our Romance section because the publisher categorizes it Romantic Suspense.  Most Romantic Suspense novels have very, very little romance in them, but plenty of intrigue and action.  Take a chance and look through our Romance section.  I guarantee you’ll find a whole wealth of titles to choose from that read more suspense than romance.  Other authors you might enjoy are:  Susanne Brockmann, Nina Bruhns, M LBuchman, Lori Foster, Catherine Mann, Stephanie Tyler.