"The Watcher in the Wall" by Owen Laukkanen is a more personal entry in the Stevens & Windermere series

This book -- which comes out in March 2016 -- is the 5th book in the Stevens and Windermere series.  Although the story stands alone with some brief references to the case from the previous book in the series, I wouldn't recommend reading it without reading at least the first book in the series.  And really I think you should read at least the first couple books because you need to get the history of these characters and why they are working together and what the relationships are among the major characters.  You would still have a really interesting book to read but would lose a lot of the background.

"Watcher" starts out on a very different note from the stories earlier books in the series which all begin with a violent crime that has a Minnesota connection and in which the FBI gets involved.  This story starts out more quiet and sad -- with a bullied teen committing suicide.  Stevens gets involved because the teen was his daughter's classmate and Windermere has her own personal connection and it hits her hard.  For the first 100 pages, it looked like this book was going to be a dramatic change from the past books where the duo criss-crosses the United States hunting down the bad guys with some dramatic action scenes.  But never fear --  even though the beginning of the book is heavy on the touchy feely and on computer research, it doesn't stay passive for long.

If you are a fan of the series.for the action, don't be put off by what seems to be a departure from the usual formula.  You will get all the action you expect as the investigation reveals that there is more to this case than depressed and suicidal high school students.  I am not going to give away any spoilers, but will let you know that the action heats up in a big way.

But even when the action heats up, the personal aspect to the book stays with you.  One of the hardest parts of the book, both for one of the characters and also for me as a reader, is the description of how so many students laugh along with the bullies, not because they want to be mean to the target but to fit in themselves or out of a desire to not become a target of the bully themselves.  I have been out of high school for a very long time but one of my classmates recently shared on Facebook how much her bullying in high school negatively affected her life.  And I feel ashamed that I was too wrapped up with my own desire to fit in and be liked to notice what she was going through.

In the acknowledgements at the end, the author talks about his own struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts and encourages bullied or suicidal teens to talk to someone.  He even offers up himself.  I hope someone who needs it takes him up on the offer.

For the rest of us, enjoy another exciting Stevens & Windermere thriller!

"The Wolves" by Alex Berenson takes the character John Wells to a darker place and I didn't care for it

This is Book #10 in the author's John Wells series of spy thrillers.  John Wells is a CIA agent (and later a deniable independent contractor for the CIA) who has spent most of his career infiltrating terrorist cells in Afghanistan and similar countries.  Along the way he converted to Islam -- his religious beliefs and practices form a distinct part of his character.  And like most "lone wolf" spy novel protagonists, he has a complicated personal and romantic life.

I haven't read all of the John Wells books but of the several I have read, this one was my least favorite.  The storyline follows directly from the previous book in the series, "Twelve Days," so you probably should read that book first to understand the context of how the characters relate to each other.

This book is almost the complete opposite of Twelve Days in tone and pace.  The pace in Twelve Days was frantic with Wells going from country to country -- Europe, Russian, Middle East, Africa -- in a very short period of time to try to keep the United States from being tricked into entering a war with Iran.  And it was heavy on the violence as well.  This book starts when events have had a little time to calm down and because there is not a deadline, the action moves more slowly from place to place and even within a set location.  The level of violence is significantly lower in this book, as is the degree to which Wells's physical ability to carry out his mission and escape from tight situations stretches the bounds of believability.  For the most part, Wells doesn't pull off physically improbable stunts.

However, instead of being about saving the United States, the story in this book is all about revenge.  I didn't like that part of the book -- it made the character of John Wells even darker than he has been throughout the series.

One interesting part was how much time the reader spends inside the heads of the bad guys.  They aren't just caricatures but fully formed people who justify their own actions.

If you like this series and this character, you most likely will enjoy this book as well.  I didn't care for the particular focus of this book, but it was still a fairly entertaining read.  Even though this book was merely OK for me 3 stars out of 5), I would still read the next book in the series.

I received an ARC free from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for a review.

"Real Tigers (Slough House)" by Mick Herron is not the spy book I was expecting but definitely worth reading

This was not at all the book I was expecting from the blurb on the back of the book. I had not read any of the other Slough House books and always associate spy novels with nonstop action and page-turning speed. So I was a bit taken aback when the book started out fairly slow and "wordy" (by which I mean there are a lot of full paragraphs and not just the spare action and dialogue oriented prose you might see in an American thriller). Clearly this was not going to be a page-turner and I was tired and just wanted some mindless escapism so I nearly quit reading but was convinced to keep going and am glad I did.

The Slow Horses (which I only just now realize is a play on words of the building where they "work") are MI5 agents who have been pulled from official duty for various screw-ups and given make-work assignments designed to make them quit. These folks are not James Bond or any of the great fictional British spies. They are not especially heroic or competent and they don't appear to like each other very much. A lot of the wordy part at the beginning of the book gives the reader insight into these characters and what messes they have made of their lives. It can be slow reading, especially if you are expecting a spy thriller. If you get tempted to stop reading -- just keep going. There is a point to what you are reading and things will eventually start moving.

Just about the time you think the action is really going to start, you get more background but keep with it. This is definitely a book written by someone with a degree in English, not the typical American thriller that is often a mental movie script in novel form. It is much more character driven with a fairly involved plot. Sit back and enjoy the writing.  One of the benefits of so much of the book being about the characters and not just solid action is that it is not critical to have read earlier books in the series to be able to understand and enjoy this one.

I don't want to give out any plot details because it would spoil the surprises the author has built into the story. Right around page 114, I realized what kind of spy book this was going to be -- and it was nothing like I expected. For the rest of the book there were plots and counter-plots until you wonder who the good guys and bad guys really are and who is going to come out on top in the end. And I finally got more of the action I was originally expecting, even though the Slow Horses are not your typical spies.  By the time I finished, I was really glad I had kept reading even though it wasn't the book I had expected. This is definitely a thinking person's spy book -- a literary spy thriller. If all you want is page-turning action, this might not be the book for you. But I still recommend it because it will keep you on your toes.

I received an Advance Readers Copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for a review.

"The Stolen Ones" by Owen Laukkanen is my favorite in the Stevens and Windermere series so far!

"The Stolen Ones" is the 4th book in the Stevens and Windermere series of thrillers written by Owen Laukkanen. I have been reading them since the first one ("The Professionals") and this one is my favorite so far, but I have enjoyed them all. 

Even though the stories of each book stand alone, I recommend reading at least the first book in the series before reading this one so you get some background on how the main characters started working together.  And really, because this book doesn't come out until March, you have plenty of time to read the first three books before reading this one.

I started reading this series because I thought they were Minnesota-based thrillers and this is my home state.  But although they generally start in Minnesota, I wouldn't call them Minnesota mysteries because the characters end up traveling across the country to solve their cases.  In this book, for instance, the action starts in Minnesota, then goes to Montana, Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

I continued reading this series because Stevens and Windermere are such an engaging pair of crime fighters.  Kirk Stevens is a middle-aged Minnesota white guy with a wife and two kids.  He works at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.  Carla Windermere is his complete opposite:  she is a beautiful young single black woman from Miami who has been assigned to the Minneapolis office of the FBI.  In the first couple books they end up working together by chance on cases that intersect but in later they work together on purpose.

In this book, Stevens is on vacation in northern Minnesota with his family and gets called in to check out what should be an open-and-shut case of a local deputy shot by a young woman.  But he discovers things are not as easy as they first appear and calls in Windermere and the FBI when he realizes the young woman is a victim of sex trafficking.

One of the other reasons I enjoy this series so much is that the author gives the criminals as much personality -- and time in the book -- as the main characters.  The book isn't all about the main characters trying to solve a crime, it is also about the criminals and what they are thinking and doing.  The author creates criminal characters who are fully fleshed out, not just villainous caricatures. 

The reason I like this book the best so far is that there are two more characters in this book whose points of view are followed -- the Romanian sisters Irina and Catalina who are part of a shipment of Eastern European girls brought to the U.S. to be sold into the sex trade.  They are young but feisty and courageous.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a fast-paced exciting and interesting police procedural thriller.

I received a free ARC of this book through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for a review.

"Woman With a Gun" by Phillip Margolin kept me up all night!

I am tired today and it is all Phillip Margolin's fault.  I started reading this book last night and expected to be able to put it aside to sleep, but I kept waking up and reading a little more until I finally gave up, stayed awake, and finished it.

This stand-alone novel is a very different style of mystery so if you are a fan of the author's series be prepared for a change.  Rather than one main character who the plot follows through the entire book, there are a couple of them and the plot is not linear.  In fact, it is not just one story but three interrelated stories that take place in 2015, 2005 and 2000, respectively. And the style is a little bit of legal thriller and a little bit of amateur sleuthing mystery.

The book starts in 2015 with Stacey Kim, an aspiring novelist in NYC who gets inspiration from a photograph at a museum and decides to get the facts about it as background research for her book. The 2005 storyline is about the murder investigation in which the photographer is a witness and the subject of the photo is a suspect.  The main character in that section is Jack Booth, an Oregon prosecutor brought to Palisades Heights to help the local DA with a high-profile murder investigation.  Jack has history with the photographer, which leads to the 2000 story when Jack was a young prosecutor.  Eventually the book returns to the present and all the story lines come together.

That all sounds more complicated than it is and the interrelated stories both keep the plot moving and give the reader insight into the characters' personalities and backgrounds.  (Interestingly, Stacey was the least interesting character to me because her story is all in the present and she lacked the depth of the other characters.)

I had an idea who the killer might be, but for most of the book it could have been almost any of the characters except Stacey.  The confession was a little abrupt and it seemed to me that the evidence that prompted it could have been explained away, but those are minor quibbles with a book that not only kept my interest but kept me awake and reading.  If you like smart mysteries, this one is for you.

In a case of art imitates life, the author got the inspiration for the book from a photograph -- and that photo is on the cover of the book.

I received a free ARC of this book from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for a review.

Pendergast Is Back!

Title:  Blue Labyrinth 

Authors:  Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing 11/11/14

Every year, I have a 'must read' on my list.  The new Pendergast by Preston & Child.   Now this year, they did something a little sneaky.  They gave away a free preview of 11 chapters on Amazon - guaranteed to whet any reader's appetite for the whole thing.

I was lucky.  I got a review copy of the entire book from Netgalley and I simply devoured it.  And fair warning, I'm a hardcore Pendergast fan, so this review might get a little…embarrassingly gushy!

The opening is both simple and shocking.  Pendergast opens his front door to find someone from his past murdered on his doorstep.  He knows this is a message to him…but what's the message?  And from whom?  Thus begins a chase around the world, from sunny California to the slums of Brazil.  And the chase has a timeline - a timeline that could result in the life (or death) of someone the readers know and love.

Blue Labyrinth pulls no punches.  There are shocks around every turn.   While not every old character is back, D'Agosta, Margo and, of course, Constance play pivotal roles in this drama - oddly, perhaps more than Pendergast himself at times.

And, of course, history plays its role as well, as we learn the tale of a mysterious and dangerous elixir and the lives it destroyed.

To be honest, I felt a bit like the last two Pendergast books were a tiney bit lightweight - as though they were setting the reader up for something.  This book is that something.  It's a fast read.  It's dark, tense, and Constance gets righteously awesome.  She's been showing her strength more and more in the past books and in this one, she finally comes into her own - and she is glorious.

And of course Pendergast is still brilliant, quirky, and believe it or not he'll do a couple of things that show he's more human than he likes to be.  There are a couple of surprises here!

The simple fact is that Preston and Child, yet again, deliver.  An absolute five star read and highly recommended!

Turn Off your Logic Sensors!

Title:  Trust Me I'm Lying
Author: Mary Elizabeth Summer
Publisher:  Delacorte Press

*Review Copy Provided by Amazon Vine Review Program


This is one of those books that just kills me when it comes to reviewing - primarily because it's so much fun, but so freaking illogical I just want to scream.

Let's start with the fun:

Julep is a grifter - a con artist. She comes by it honestly, as her father is one of the best grifters out there. And Julep just might be better. She's known as the Fixer at the posh private school she attends - the girl who can make anything happen. And she's enjoying herself, running her cons, until her father disappears - and Julep is the only person who can find him.

Sounds fun, doesn't it? And it is.

Julep is smart, funny, and a bit snarky. And the other characters are great as well. Sam, Julep's sidekick who harbors a sweet secret. Murphy, the school nerd with a crush on one of the most popular girls in school. Tyler, probably the most handsome boy in school who seems to be extremely interested in Julep all of a sudden. A butt kicking female who just may be some sort of assassin. The sweet bookie who cares about Julep and her dad.

The book moves like crazy, from one wild situation to the next and will leave you gasping, laughing, and even sorrowful in parts.

But then, comes logic:

Julep's cons make no logical sense whatsoever. The ten year old girl who dresses like a little person and goes to a bar for a drink? The free coffee for eternity con? The whole Murphy thing which seemed so very complex. And then there's the college con. Let me tell you, if my kid was applying for college and then I'm told that instead of writing a tuition check to the college, I'm to make the check out in the name of the person who interviewed her, I'm calling both the college and the police immediately.

More disconcerting is that for a con artist, perhaps the best teen con artist in the world, Julep doesn't read people very well. Reading people, your marks and otherwise, is the most important part of the con. And Julep can't read a soul. The con artist gets conned too much in this book.

And finally, if you were the premier teen con artist out there, would you tell everyone you know that you're a con artist? I don't think you would last long if you did.

Don't get me wrong, the book is fun. I read it quickly and enjoyed it. You just need to turn your brain off before you read!

I'm going all fangirl over "First Impressions" by Charlie Lovett

I read "First Impressions" by Charlie Lovett yesterday and got absolutely nothing done.  The book  started out a little slow for me trying to get two main characters going but once I got into the groove, it sucked me in like crazy and I couldn't put it down.  And I wasn't even tempted to skip ahead to the end to see what happened!

This is truly a book for book lovers.  What's funny is that at a time when I am trying to reduce the number of books I have lying around my house, this book made me want to hang out in antiquarian book shops and browse.  And smell the smell of old books.  I loved the parts of the book where Sophie and her uncle were talking about books or sitting and reading together or shopping for books.

In addition to being about loving books, this book is about Jane Austen.  There is both a storyline about Jane that takes place in the past and a present-day mystery surrounding P&P.  Hard core Janeites might hate parts of this book because a fictional older gentleman visiting the neighboring earl critiques early drafts of S&S and P&P and gives Jane suggestions on how to improve the stories (such suggestions now being part of the finished products).  It may seem like heresy to suggest that anyone else had a hand in such beloved books, but I'm not a hard core Janeite so it didn't bother me.

I want to tell everyone to read this book.

I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for a review.