Tag: mystery

Monthly summary

October Summary

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October is over. November is here and my two most busiest months of the year is starting. Not only will I have a lot going on at work but private there is already a full list to be completed. And off course there is some books on that list. But first, lets talk about October.

Better reading month then what I had foreseen. Got 10 books in and one DNF book. Quite happy to finally be done with the third book of voyager and even if it was great, the favorite book of the month is The Redbreat by Jo Nesbø. Did not like the two first books but the third one, OH MY!
The least favorite book this month is, believe it or not, from Jessica Gadziala. The eight book in the Henchman Series, Pagan, is at the bottom this month.

Looking forward to November and the books I will be reading. Got some great books on the way that I have ordered and my Kindle is full of books just waiting to be read. It will be great.

Favorite book this month: The Redbreast – Jo Nesbø
Least favorite book this month: Pagan – Jessica Gadziala
Total read pages: About 4400 pages.

107769Murder List – Julie Garwood
Settings: Chicago, Illinois (USA). Pages: 425. Published: 2004.
Genres: Thriller, romance, suspense.
My rating: 4/5 stars.
Five words: Warm, great written, little slow.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 4 in Buchanan-Renard series.

14 Weeks – Jessica Gadziala33950707
Settings: Navesink Bank (fictional), New Jersey, (USA) Pages: 213.
Published: 2017.
Genres: Romance, contemporary, suspense.
My rating: 2/5.
Five words: Unexciting, ranting, no connection, okay.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 2 in Investigators.
24763130.jpgWolf Trouble – Page Tyler
Settings: Dallas, Texas, (USA). Pages: 352. Published: 2015.
Genres: Fantasy, paranormal, romance, shapeshifters.
My rating: 4/5.
Five words: Sexy, exciting, werewolf, “realistic”, more.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 2 in S.W.A.T. Special wolf alpha team.

The Good Daughter – Karin Slaughter33230889
Settings: Georgia, (USA) Pages: 528. Published: 2017.
Genre: Mystery, thriller, fiction, suspense.
My rating: 4/5
Five words: Dark, terrible, great written, wordy.
Links: Review | Goodreads
32331591.jpgRun to ground – Katie Ruggle
Settings: Colorado (USA). Pages: 416. Published: 2017.
Genres: Romance, contemporary, suspense.
My rating: 3/5
Five words: Sweet, somewhat repeatable, dogs, secrets.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 1 in Rocky Mountain K9 unit.

Pagan – Jessica Gadziala34537960
 Settings: Navesink Bank (fictional), New Jersey, (USA). Pages: 344.
Published: 2017.
Genres: Contemporary, Romance.
My rating: 2/5.
Five words: No connection, superficial, slow, over.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 8 in The Henchmen series.
682156Sacred Sins – Nora Roberts
Settings: Washington D C, USA. Pages: 344. Published: 1987. Genres: Contemporary, romance, suspense.
My rating: 4/5
Five words: Great characters, warm, feel good.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 1 in DC detective series.

The Redbreast – Jo Nesbø465226
Settings: Oslo, Norway. Pages: 519. Published: 2000. Genres: Mystery, crime, fiction, thriller
My rating: 5/5.
Five words: So good, exciting, great suspense.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 3 in Harry Hole series.
25711641Tyrant – T. M Frazier
Pages: 277. Published: 2015.
Genres: Romance, Adult erotica, fiction, suspense
My rating: 3/5
Five words: Mostly boring, Twists, Good end
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 2 in King series.

Voyager – Diana Gabaldon10987
Settings: England, Scotland, France, and more. Pages: 870.
Published: 1993. Genres: Historical, Romance, Fiction, Fantasy.
My rating: 4/5
Five words: Little to long, but great.
Links: Review | Goodreads
Book 3 in Outlander series.

DNF

6049585Abandon – Blake Crouch
Pages: 292. Published: 2010.
Genres: Horror, thriller, mystery, fiction, suspense.
Links: Review | Goodreads

I could not even get myself longer than 20% in the book. This because the writing is so, so bad. It is seriously terrible.

Contemporary · Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

Sacred Sins – Nora Roberts

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682156| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: 
In the lazy days of summer, a merciless heat wave is the biggest story in Washington, D.C. But the weather is knocked off the front pages when a young woman is found strangled to death. A note left behind reads Her sins are forgiven her.

Two more victims soon follow, and suddenly every headline is devoted to the killer the press has dubbed “the Priest.” When the police ask top-notch psychiatrist Dr. Tess Court to help with their investigation, she comes up with a disturbing portrait of a twisted soul.

Detective Ben Paris doesn’t give a damn about the killer’s psyche. What he can’t easily dismiss is Tess. Tall, dark, and good-looking, Ben has a legendary reputation with women, but the coolly elegant Tess doesn’t react to him like other women he’s known — and he finds the challenge enticing.

Now, as the two are thrown together in a perilous quest to stop a serial killer, the flame of white-hot passion flares. But someone also has his eyes on the beautiful blond doctor … and Ben can only pray that if the madman strikes, he’ll be able to stop him before it’s too late….

Untitled

My thoughts: The book is from the late 80’s and actually is older than me. But you do not notice the time difference which is great. It makes the book like one of those timeless classics and a book you really notice is written by Nora Roberts when you read it.

Roberts have an huge talent for characters development and it is no difference in this book. Even though it did not happen that much for the majority of the book, it was the progress of the story that just made it all great. Unfortunately the end of the book took away one star in my rating. This because it was to predicable and really no suspense and excitement. It was boring and felt more like Roberts just wanted to be done with the book so the end got rushed.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Dead woman walking – Sharon Bolton

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33602123| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: In Dead Woman Walking, from master of suspense Sharon Bolton, the sole survivor of a hot-air balloon crash witnesses a murder as the balloon is falling.

Just before dawn in the hills near the Scottish border, a man murders a young woman. At the same time, a hot-air balloon crashes out of the sky. There’s just one survivor. She’s seen the killer’s face – but he’s also seen hers. And he won’t rest until he’s eliminated the only witness to his crime. Alone, scared, trusting no one, she’s running to where she feels safe – but it could be the most dangerous place of all…

Untitled

My thoughts: This book was hard to rate and i´m gonna tell you why. At first I thought this was a book by Sharon Sala. But when I started reading something was off so I looked it up and found out that this is no Sala book. It is a Bolton. I just confused the names. And no worries because I actually like Bolton more than Sala. I have read her Lacy Flint series and really liked it. Funny that I could detect that this was not a Sala book. Anyway, when that misunderstanding was out of the way I could really start reading. And i did. And did. And my god, the book is so slow. I mean, turtle on a snail, slow.

Then after 50% it started to pick up but it is still slow. Nothing really makes sense and it feels like you as a reader are missing several important clues. I even reread some pages because I was certain that I was missing something.

Then at 70% it really started to pick up and the rest was just one curve ball after another. One twist after another and the truth is finally making some sense. It even made me gasp and say “NO WAY” out loud so Mr M thought I had company in the living room. (In one way I did but not the way he thought.)

So the book went from a two star rating to a five star rating. But, and here is the but! It was to slow and now when I´m done I feel that Bolton did leave out to much so now after, I can see how much holes there is in the story. The writing was also a little bit off. But overall it is a great book and a great story as long as you are a patient reader and it deserves a four star rating by me.

And one last thing. I´m glad this one is not a series becalms i don’t know if I could take one more book like this. I hope not her other books are like this. Her Flint series was not.

Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Dollmaker – Mary Burton

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30168629| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: Dr. Tessa McGowan had never seen anything quite like it. But the mutilated bodies on her exam table tell a stunningly macabre tale: someone with a twisted mind is kidnapping women and altering their faces to resemble real, life-size dolls. As a forensic pathologist, it’s her job to aid the agent leading the case—even if that agent is her estranged husband.

Twelve years ago an unspeakable tragedy destroyed Dakota Sharp’s world. Haunted by the ghosts of his past, he’s devoted himself to capturing killers. His only regret is that it cost him Tessa. Now, as the Dollmaker case brings them together—and raises his suspicions that he’s crossed paths with this deranged psychopath before—they may just have their second chance. But it seems Dakota’s not the only one who wants to make Tessa his own…

She may be the Dollmaker’s next target, but Tessa has no intention of winding up as another toy on his shelf. Can she and Dakota stop this ghastly killer before his next deadly playdate?

My thoughts: If I remember correctly I did like (not love) the first book in the forgotten files series. But this one, who have a more exciting story, do not even get as far up as to like it. It is an average book. It did not bore me to death, but it also did not do that much for me. It´s kind of blaha for me. And that´s to bad. A book with that high rating and reviews should fall in my taste more than this one did.

The books story about the Dollmaker is actually kind of good. It is gross and makes you cringe. That however is the only ting. The killers story in the book makes no sense and how it all hangs together feels a little far fetched. There is no suspense in the hunt for the killer, Dakota feels real and human but Tessa does nothing for me. She is kind of gray and mellow. Not very exciting. And to bad that the book is to predictable. It could have been so much better.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Thriller/Horror

Still Life With Crows – D. Preston & L. Child

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39033| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: A small Kansas town has turned into a killing ground. Is it a serial killer, a man with the need to destroy?
Or is it a darker force, a curse upon the land?
Amid golden cornfields, FBI Special Agent Pendergast discovers evil in the blood of America’s heartland.
No one is safe.

My thoughts: This is the fourth book about Aloysius X.L. Pendergast. Yeah I know, what a name! And this is so far the least good book out of them I have read. Loved the first and second one. The third was great because it gave you the ability to learn more about Pendergast. This one however was not that exciting. It is good, absolutely. Its just kind of slow and predictable and not the greatest work.

But i´m still a little bit in love with Pendergast that i´m definitely gonna read more books in the series. And I hope i´m not gonna have more of these bad experiences. 😉

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Thriller/Horror

Sinister – Jana DeLeon

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28603811| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: From New York Times bestselling author Jana DeLeon, the second book in the Shaye Archer thriller series.

Street kids are disappearing, but how do you report that to the police when, from their standpoint, the missing people didn’t exist to begin with? Hustle is certain that something bad has happened to his friend Jinx, and the only person he can turn to for help is private investigator Shaye Archer.

Because Hustle helped the young PI while she was investigating her first case, Shaye has already formed an opinion as to his character and believes he’s telling the truth. As she digs deeper into Jinx’s disappearance, she discovers that Hustle’s friend isn’t the only one missing. As a frightening pattern emerges, Shaye wonders if she can find the missing kids…before it’s too late.

My thoughts: Oh my! After I read and rated the first book 5 stars in this series about Shaye Archer, I thought “this cant get any better!”. So wrong I had. It could and it did get better. So good that adrenaline is still pumping out trough my veins. I absolutely love this woman. She is ice cold cool, but still hot and emotional, with an earth crust thick wall around her self. She is compassionate, honest and trough out a really good person. Minus all her history, I want to be her. But her history, I do not want.

The first book was great, the second even greater. You get to meet some of the characters from the first book again and get to know them better. DeLeon is an terrific writer who makes you as an reader in there in the story with the characters. This is the second book I have read by Deleon but if she always writhes like this, she have a strong ability to be one of my favorite writers.

The book is not in the romantic genre, but I have my suspisions that it could be in the future. And even tho I mostly read books with some kind of romantic plot, this is refreshing and oh so great.

Have you read anything by Jana Deleon?

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Thriller/Horror

A Merciful Death – Kendra Elliot

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29986740| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: FBI special agent Mercy Kilpatrick has been waiting her whole life for disaster to strike. A prepper since childhood, Mercy grew up living off the land—and off the grid—in rural Eagle’s Nest, Oregon. Until a shocking tragedy tore her family apart and forced her to leave home. Now a predator known as the cave man is targeting the survivalists in her hometown, murdering them in their homes, stealing huge numbers of weapons, and creating federal suspicion of a possible domestic terrorism event. But the crime scene details are eerily familiar to an unsolved mystery from Mercy’s past.

Sent by the FBI to assist local law enforcement, Mercy returns to Eagle’s Nest to face the family who shunned her while maintaining the facade of a law-abiding citizen. There, she meets police chief Truman Daly, whose uncle was the cave man’s latest victim. He sees the survivalist side of her that she desperately tries to hide, but if she lets him get close enough to learn her secret, she might not survive the fallout…

My thoughts: I really liked the story. I liked that preppers had a big part of the story. I know what a prepper is but the complete meaning of it was new to me until I read Fan the flames by Katie Ruggle where the female lead character had grown up as an extreme prepper. The culture intrigued me and that is mostly why I wanted to read this book.

However I wasn’t that happy about the characters. They felt kind of detached at times and some of the history never was told to you as an reader, which would have made somethings a little clearer. And I totally dont agree with the ending of the book. Tho no cliffhanger.

Overall it is an great book with some mistakes. After my experience, the first book in a series are often not that good as it could be and i´m still interested to read more about Mercy, and perhaps get some answers on stuff that you didn’t get in the first book. I do not like to end a book with questions but here it do not do anything since they are minor and just my own curiosity. Another reader would probably not even have those questions when the book ends.

Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

You Belong To Me – Karen Rose

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8697191.jpg| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: A killer is branding his victims with numbers. How many will he kill before he’s stopped? YOU BELONG TO ME is a fantastic thriller from bestselling author Karen Rose, and the first novel in her Baltimore series.

When forensic pathologist Lucy Trask stumbles across a mutilated body by the chess tables in her local Baltimore park, its face so badly damaged it is unrecognizable, her sole concern is that it might be her old school teacher Mr Pugh.

When the corpse is identified, Lucy is shocked to discover that the victim is actually another man from her past. Who killed him and why his skin is burnt with the number ‘1’ is unclear but it’s evident that someone is demanding Lucy’s attention.

The discovery of a second branded body raises worrying questions: how many more lives may be at risk before the killer’s final message is revealed? And can Lucy solve the killer’s gruesome puzzle before their thirst for revenge is complete?

My thoughts:Great book. Great characters, great story, great suspense and great, hot romance. Just a great book. Karen Rose has done a great job with the mystery and suspense so it is not until the end you really get to know whats going on. I love to sit through a book and guess how it all hangs together and when an author proves me wrong in the end, i have won big. And Karen Rose really did it in this book.

The book is part of an series. It is nr 12 in Romantic suspense but number 1 in the Baltimore series. I definitely want to read more by Rose. Her writing is great and I cant believe that i never stumble over her books earlier. It was actually one of my Goodreads friends who read it and thats how I discovered her books.

There is one negative thing with the book tho and that is that it are a little to many people and it’s sometimes hard to keep track on who is who and from where. But other than that it’s an great book. And you get the best from two worlds. Super romantic exciting and murder, crime suspense. Just up my alley.

Contemporary · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Shadow Of Perception – Kristine Mason

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25361217| GOODREADS | AMAZON | My rating: ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: What happens when negligent plastic surgeons get a taste of their own medicine…?

Chicago investigative reporter, Eden Risk, receives an unmarked envelope containing a postcard ordering her to watch the enclosed DVD…or someone else dies. No police. After Eden watches the DVD, a gruesome, horrifying surgery, she turns to the private criminal investigation agency, CORE, for help. Only she hadn’t expected that help to come with a catch. Her former lover, Hudson Patterson, has been assigned to the case.

Hudson would rather have another CORE agent handle the investigation. Two years ago, he’d screwed things up with Eden…bad. And as more DVDs arrive, Eden and Hudson find themselves not only knee-deep in a twisted investigation, but forced to deal with their past, and the love they’d tried to deny.

My thoughts: This is the second book in Masons CORE Shadow Trilogy. I did like the first book and gave it three stars, but I really liked the first book from her other CORE series (above the law). But this one I did not like at all. I didn’t like that the suspense disappeared to fast since Mason gave to much explanations to early. So the murder and his mystery was not that exciting. And I did not like Eden at all and some of the drama was totally her fault and then try to make it Hudsons fault. That kind of relation and drama is really nothing for me.

And its to bad. Because i´m starting to see and a pattern and Mason has an sick imagination. An imagination totally in my taste. Something new and a little on the border of insanity that is really refreshing for someone like me who read a lot of thriller, suspense, mystery and books with romance.

So in total, this was not the book for me, but I still want to read more and the third book is about an character named Rachel and that is really exciting. 😀