Publisher: St. Martin

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Runner

In Runner, Patrick Lee takes the standard military thriller and manages to add some new twists that elevate the book beyond what is expected from the genre. Since I am a fan of the thrillers and read a lot of these types of books it is pretty rare that I am surprised by them. I was really pleased that this one managed to surprise me by the second chapter. This book is an interesting mixture of the standard ex-special forces hero comes out of retirement to save the girl type of story and adds a light sci-fi element giving the plot a nice spin. What is better is that the twist isn’t held until the end of the book but instead put up front in the first few chapters. The other thing that really helps this book is the pacing. A lot of thrillers claim to be “fast paced” but… Read more »

Snowblind

Strange occurrences surround the return of a blizzard where years before many residents went missing. On first examination Snowblind dredges up thoughts of ghost stories told around a campfire. It however really isn’t that, at least not completely. For this kind of supernatural suspense book Snowblind is a lot more subdued and restrained then you find in most other mainstream books of the genre. Sure there are scares and surprises but it tries to play with your mind more than hack and slash its way to horror. It is more Stir of Echoes than it is Nightmare on Elm Street. Because of this the pacing is a lot slower the some will be used to. Not to say it is overly slow as this is the type of pacing you need to make a story like this work. However this also causes the middle of the book to really drag. … Read more »

Two for the Dough

Two for the Dough is another installment in the Stephanie Plumb series continues the mix of mystery and humor tinged with hints of Evanovich’s history of writing romance novels. Don’t get me wrong, while this does have the undertones of a romance novel it is not that. The sense of humor in the book along with a half-way decent mystery really elevates out of the chic lit arena into a fun read for everyone. The best thing about this book continues to be the characters. All of the cast of supporting players are back and you can’t help but love all of them. Plumb herself is incredibly endearing and the way the book revels in her complete ineptitude as a bounty hunter really wins the reader over. You really want her to succeed. The mystery plot line in this is not quite as good as the first book. While chasing… Read more »

Glorious War: The Civil War Adventures of George Armstrong Custer

Glorious War is a biography covering the exploits of George Custer’s Civil War career as well as touching on some of the years just before and after the war. It attempts to give a more in-depth look at one of the few soldiers whose life after the Civil War over shadowed his actions during it. I read a lot of biographies and to me they are really hit or miss. While the subject is important in getting me interested in a biography it is really the tone the author uses that makes or breaks it for me. In Glorious War Thom Hatch uses a flowing narrative style that does an excellent job of combining the need to relay information about the subject’s life while still making it an enjoyable read. For me this is one of the most enjoyable biographies I have read and joins a small group of similar… Read more »

One for the Money

Review by Travis Starnes This is the first in the Stephanie Plum series about an ex-lingerie saleswoman turned bounty hunter. To be honest the premise did not give me have high hopes for this book. Many mystery novels that I read tend to feel very similar and the “smart mouth, strong willed armature bounty hunter” did not hold a lot of promise for me. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this book. For me the first and most important part of a mystery the quality of the mystery itself. Is it a good chase with enough clues sprinkled in so you can figure out what is “really” happening but not so many clues that it is simple to guess the ending? It really is a hard balancing act and in all honesty “One for the Money” does only an ok job at it. The main reason for… Read more »