Mything in Action

Title: Cry Havoc Vol. 1: Mything in Action

Author: Simon Spurrier & Ryan Kelly
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 9781632158338

Thoughts:  Unique format, but more visceral in places that I prefer.

Rating: 3/5

Jumping Ship

Title: Jumping Ship

Author: Janice G. Ross
Publisher: Createspace
ISBN: 9781492255475

Thoughts:  As an introduction, this did not make me want to read the series, and it needed some more editing.

Rating: 1/5

The Jacq of Spades

Title: The Jacq of Spades

Author: Kayla Miller
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 9781328911124

Thoughts:  Really cool concept in a well-built world, but there was just a little too much.

Rating: 3/5

Married at Midnight

Title: Married at Midnight
Author: Gerri Russell
Publisher: Montlake
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: First Reads

  

Thoughts: Just plain fun rom-com.

Rating: 4/5

Roosevelt's Beast

Title: Roosevelt's Beast
Author: Louis Baynard
Publisher: Henry Holt
ISBN: 9780805090703

Why Read?: First Reads

  

Thoughts: Rather uneven in terms of pacing.  Not one of Baynard's best.

Rating: 2/5

The Pink Suit

Title: The Pink Suit
Author:  Nicole Mary Kelby
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 9780316235655

Why Read?: First Reads

Thoughts: The prologue was intriguing, the the novel was just average historical fiction.

Rating: 3/5

The Sound of Rain

Title: The Sound of Rain
Author: Gregg Olsen
Publisher:  Thomas & Mercer
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: First Reads

Thoughts: This was a very taught suspense right up until the end - too many loose ends.

Rating: 4/5

Death by Probability

Title: Death by Probability
Author: Urno Barthel
Publisher:  Outskirts
ISBN: 978-1-4787-2278-6

Why Read?: First Reads

Thoughts: The premise had great promise, but many parts dragged and the denouement seemed out of left field. 

Rating: 2/5

Salvage

Title: Salvage
Author: Alexandra Duncan
Publisher: Greenwillow

ISBN: 9780062220141

Why Read?: Early Reads

Thoughts: I was not sure about this at first as it started off as a space opera, but it turned out to be a very engaging story with some pretty deep themes.

Rating: 4/5

To the Sky Kingdom

Title: To the Sky Kingdom
Author: Tang Qi
Publisher: AmazonCrossing

ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: First Reads

Thoughts: This takes a little to get into, but once things start becoming clearer, it is a deep and rich romantic fantasy.

Rating: 4/5

The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line

Title: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line
Author: Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
Publisher: Vintage

ISBN: 9780804170703

Why Read?: First Reads

Thoughts: Interesting mix of soft-boiled PI and NA.  Good story, but the title does not work well.

Rating: 4/5

Frosted Blood

Frosted Blood

by Larry Pelliteri

published by author

2015

ISBN 978-0-692-28181

Why read? Review/First Reads (received copy from author in exchange for an honest review)

Larry Pellitteri mixes a lot of speculative fiction genres in his debut novel, Frosted Blood, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it does not.  No matter the genre, Pellitteri delivers on the non-stop action.

High school senior Michael Saxon is used to being a loner ever since his parents mysteriously vanished into the side of the hill when he was seven.  Since then, he has spent his life learning about crystals, trying to identify the one his parents left with him.  His research draws the attention of Enbright, the environmental corporation for whom his parents worked for, who offers him a paid internship right out of high school.  He is not the only teenager hired on; there is also the beautiful Emma who moves into the same house he is renting, bring along her younger sister, Sophie.  Soon Michael, with the help of the sisters and his only friend, Christopher, are discovering that Enbright is not all it appears and is deep in the world of drugs, clones, and diabolical plots to take over the world.

Once the exposition of Michael’s early life is over, Pellitteri never lets up the pace.  So many twists and turns are packed into 300 pages that it is hard to keep track of everything, especially the whys behind many actions, although I feel some motivations are more on Pellitteri’s part to keep the story moving.  This, unfortunately, leaves the reader in a state of confusion, which makes it hard to really get into the story and suspend disbelief, which is greatly needed.  One thing that would have helped with much of this would be to make Michael and his friends a few years older.

If you are look for some non-stop sci-fi/fantasy action and are willing to totally suspend your disbelief, then Frost Blood can be a fun read.  I would be interested to see what Pellitteri turns out next as he continues to refine his writing style.

Rating 2/5

Numero Zero

Title: Numero Zero
Author: Umberto Eco
Publisher: Recorded Books

ISBN: 978-1-4906-9424-5

Why Read?: First Reads

Thoughts: This was well-written and started right in on the thriller, but then it became more about the politics and manipulation behind the newspaper business with a plausible conspiracy theory thrown in, but not much plot.

Rating: 3 stars

The Boy Who Could See Demons

Title: The Boy Who Could See Demons
Author: Carolyn Jess-Cooke

Publisher: Delacorte
ISBN: 978-0-345-53653-2

Why Read?: First Reads
Challenges: Free Reads, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts:  This is a wonderful, fictional look at mental illness in children...and Jess-Cooke delivers a stunning twist at the end.  A really well-constructed read.

Rating: 4 stars

Enduring Courage

Title: Enduring Courage
Author: John F. Ross

Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ISBN: 978-1-4272-3923-5

Why Read?: First Reads
Challenges: Audio Book, Free Reads, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts:  I had never heard of Eddie Rickenbacker, WWI Ace, before, but his life was very interesting.  I actually found his years of racing before any safety standards come out to be the most exciting.  This is simply a wonderful biography.

Rating: 4 stars

Clan Lord

Title: Clan Lord
Author: Joel Babbitt

Publisher: Author
ISBN: 9781940880013

Why Read?: First Reads
Challenges: Free Reads, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts:  Babbitt's sci-fi world is well-imagined, even if I could not figure out exactly how the humans got to this planet filled with a flying monkey-like race, and why exact they needed them.  Razz is an interesting protagonist, although the title kind of gives away what happens to him in this first installment. 

Rating: 2 stars

The Dumbest Idea Ever!

Title: The Dumbest Idea Ever!
Author: Jimmy Gownley

Publisher: Graphix
ISBN: 978-0-545-45347-9

Why Read?: First Reads
Challenges: Graphic Novels, Free Reads, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts:  This graphic memoir is cute and good for middle grade readers.  It has a great message about following your dreams and really made me want to check out Gownley's fictional works.

Rating: 3 stars

Dead Men Kill

Title: Dead Men Kill
Author:  L. Ron Hubbard

Publisher: Galaxy Audio
ISBN: 978-1-59212-350-6

Why Read?: First Reads
Challenges: Audio, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This had zombies! And not your modern day apocalypse type but good, old-fashioned voodoo zombies (which makes sense considering when the story was originally written). While I am not really a fan of the style of works from the so called Golden Age, I love the radio drama treatment that Galaxy Audio has given Hubbard's stories. This story was pretty good, too, as the mystery and suspense was very engaging as Detective Lane knew zombies were not real, yet there was no other logical explanation.

Rating: 4 stars

Three Seconds

Title: Three Seconds

Author: Anders Roslund & Borge Hellstrom
Publisher: Silver Oak
ISBN: 978-1-4027-8592-4
Why Read?: First Reads
Challenges:  Mystery & Suspense, Chunkster, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I could not get in to this and it took me forever to finally finish.  The last 100 pages were good and rather fast-paced, but it was just so incredibly slow getting there.  Also, I did not like any of the characters, which really distanced me from the story.  I have decided that Swedish crime fiction is just not for me.

Rating: 1 stars 

Camera Obscura

Title: Camera Obscura

Author: Lavie Tidhar
Publisher: Angry Robot
ISBN: 978-0-85766-094-7
Why Read?: First Reads
Challenges:  Steampunk, European, A to z, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I really loved The Bookman, the first in Tidhar's trilogy, and there were parts of Camera Obscura that I really loved too - especially when she encounters Holmes's murder castle outside the White City.  However, the fourth part disgusted me so much that it slowed my reading of it to almost a complete stop; I had to take it in very small doses, and this diminished my liking of it.

Rating: 3 stars