Posts Categorized: Hardcover

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Ripper

Ripper

Review by Andy The book Ripper by Stefan Petrucha is one of the absolute best books I have ever read, and it definitely deserves any awards it has or might get. This mystery is about a young boy named Carver who wants to be a detective. This book has every element that makes a good mystery.  It has some very surprising twists, shows good clues, has smart observations and a good deal of suspense. The plot progresses quickly with lots of exciting turns. This is obvious considering that at the beginning of the book Carver is in an orphanage and eventually ends up chasing Jack the Ripper. Along the way Carver meets future president Roosevelt, lives in an asylum and researches in a secret underground base. Stefan was able to take these great ideas and turn them into an amazing book with a fast-paced plot that keeps you wondering what… Read more »

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The October List

The October List

Review by Reynold Starnes The October List is the newest thriller from Jeffrey Deaver.  It is a ‘stand-alone’ story.  While I enjoy Deaver’s series, some of his best work has been stand-alone.  The October List is a good effort, but it is not his best. Deaver clearly worked hard on this novel; the structure is very clever.  It moves backwards in time.  Chronologically, the ending scene is at the beginning of the book.  Each subsequent scene is some, varying, time earlier.  The reader learns progressively more the farther back in time he goes over a three day weekend.  Deaver is very skilled and thoughtful; and this almost works. Gabriella McKenzie is the protagonist of the story.  We learn in the first scene her young daughter has been kidnapped, and the truly sinister kidnapper has demanded a $500,000 ransom and the mysterious October List, which was in the possession of her… Read more »

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Storm Front

Storm Front

Review by Reynold Starnes Storm Front is the seventh, and newest, entry in John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers series.  Sandford, the pseudonym for John Camp, who won a Pulitzer as a journalist, has penned three series:  Kidd, Prey and Flowers.  The characters inhabit the same fictional universe and are interrelated; Flowers works for Lucas Davenport, the protagonist of the Prey books.  I like them all, but Flowers is a current favorite. Sandford writes terrific thrillers, which are often very dark.  Virgil Flowers is not a dark character, but he has confronted massive child abuse cases, organized attacked squads and vicious criminals.  Storm Front is different.  It is lighter and more humorous; and a good read. There are bad guys and good guys in the book, as well as bad good guys and good bad guys.  In this story, Flowers is trying to track down a stolen engraved stone from an archaeological site… Read more »

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By Schism Rent Asunder

By Schism Rent Asunder

Review by Travis Starnes While I am still enjoying this series I was a little let down by this installment.  Not that it was bad but it felt essentially less than the previous book.  By Schism Rent Asunder picks up from the massive battle at the with a new king of Charis, the Church of God Awakening moving  more directly against the kingdom, and Charis picking up the pieces left over from its victory. If anything this book feels more like Weber is working to advance the world building and setting up for bigger conflicts.  It is clear that Weber has a long term goal for the series but all the setup in this issue comes off as a little unsatisfactory when put next to the epic battles that closed out the previous installment.  On the bright side for readers who like political maneuvering and Machiavellian schemes this book will hit… Read more »

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World War Z

World War Z

Review by Travis Starnes This book is nothing short of brilliant. That being said it may not be for everyone.  It is important to note that this is not a straightforward narrative following a survivor through zombie wasteland.  Instead World War Z is told in the form of an oral history set in a world where a worldwide zombie catastrophe has happened.  Brooks has managed to do such a good job of creating a fictitious oral history that it in fact reads like many real oral histories I have read in the past. World War Z recounts the alternate history of a world where there zombies rise from the dead, how they took over the world, and the ways in which the survivors pushed the zombies back and reclaimed their countries.  Even though it is clearly a work of fiction it none the less comes off as very believable, thanks… Read more »

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Never Go Back

Never Go Back

Review by Reynold Starnes Never Go Back is the eighteenth and latest Lee Child thriller featuring Jack Reacher.  For those new to the series, Reacher is a drifter who, often without intending to, finds himself against very bad people, which never ends well for the bad guys.  He is an ex-Army MP who is six feet, five inches tall and weighs around two-fifty.  He is an accomplished investigator, expert marksman, trained in hand-to-hand combat, and very smart. In Never Go Back, Reacher heads to the special MP unit he used to lead to see the new commander, a woman, whose voice he liked when he spoke to her on the phone.  When he gets to the post, he becomes involved in a conspiracy she has inadvertently touched. Like the other Reacher novels, this is a good read.  It isn’t a favorite, but it isn’t the least favorite either.  Middle of… Read more »

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