King Arthur Movie Tristan

Author Margaret Coel was here Monday for a guest post. Today, I'm reviewing the two books in her Catherine McLeod mystery series. (My apologies, these reviews are two days late.)







title: Blood Memory: A Catherine McLeod Mystery

author: Margaret Coel

published: 2008

genre: crime thriller/suspense

pages: 305

source: sent by publisher for review

first line: The August night was perfect.

rated: 3 out of 5 stars







About:

Blood Memory is the first in the Catherine McLeod mystery books by author Margaret Coel.
Catherine is an investigative reporter for a Denver newspaper called the Journal. On one of her nightly routine walks with her golden retriever Rex, Catherine notices she is being followed. Narrowly escaping a brush with death, Catherine becomes involved in a crime investigation and realizes she is being targeted by a hit man. Being an investigative reporter has gotten her plenty of enemies, but she cannot think of anyone who would want to kill her. The hit man himself sends her an email, but it is basically a threat. From page one, Catherine is caught in a cat and mouse chase.



Catherine's rich ex-husband, Lawrence, insists she stay at his secluded family ranch up in the Colorado mountains until they find the man who is after her. Catherine reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile Bustamante, the detective assigned to her case is on the search for her would be assassin.

Catherine realizes there is a connection between her attempted murder and a story involving the Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians.





My thoughts:

Blood Memory is a suspenseful story that had me drawn in. I liked Catherine from the start. She's a strong woman with a mind of her own. The cast of characters is interesting and I was easily taken in by the storyline.



The Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians are involved within the plot and as the story unfolds you get to see how this is all connected to Catherine. This part of the story was a bit boring for me however, especially towards the end. I felt myself not interested in it as much as in the chase between Catherine and her would be assassin.



I liked police detective Nick Bustamante. He's your classic strong hero/good guy trying to save lives. I wanted to see if something would develop between he and Catherine.


I wanted Catherine to kick her ex-husband Lawrence in the 'you know whats'. He's your basic slimy guy who thinks he can get away with anything because he thinks he's entitled.


I also liked that Catherine's Golden Retriever Rex is involved the story, it gave it all a more realistic feel.




Author Margaret Coel wraps the ending up well and gives the story closure.







The Colorado setting was great, author Margaret Coel really makes it a part of the story. I could easily imagine the beautiful mountains and sky as the backdrop to the story.

There were scatterings of gray sagebrush and clusters of old cottonwood tress along the banks of dry creeks. The air smelled of dust and sage and outdoors. The great wall of mountains curved in the distance.
p. 43

Although the Arapaho and Cheyenne Indian aspect of the story dragged a bit for me, I found Blood Memory to be a good start to a suspenseful series.














title: The Perfect Suspect: A Catherine McLeod Mystery

author: Margaret Coel

published: 2011

genre: crime thriller/suspense

pages: 293

source: sent by publisher for review

first line: She never meant to kill him.

rated: 4 out of 5 stars







About:


David Mathews is a candidate running for Governor in Colorado. Journalist Catherine McLeod has been covering his campaign for some time. There are rumors of Mathews infidelities and shady business deals, but nothing has been proven. He and his wife seem to be the perfect couple.



One night Mathews is home alone and opens his front door to find his ex mistress Detective Ryan Beckman there. She insists on coming into his home and tries to convince Mathews the two can work things out.

When he asks her to leave, she shoots him dead. As Ryan leaves the crime scene, another one of Mathews mistresses sees her from outside the house. An eye witness.



Journalist Catherine McLeod is sent to the crime scene the next day to get the scoop. Ironically enough, Detective Ryan Beckman is assigned to the case along with her partner, Martinez.

At this point, Mathews wife is the prime suspect, the murder weapon is even found at her home, planted there by none other than Ryan.



Catherine receives an anonymous phone call from the eye witness/mistress, saying that she saw Detective Ryan Beckman flee the crime scene. She won't give her name or identity, being that she thinks she'll be ridiculed and possibly hauled in for questioning, since she is a private escort. Catherine has a gut feeling that this person is telling the truth and does all she can to prove who the real killer is.





My thoughts:


The Perfect Suspect grabbed me in from the first line and didn't let me go until the final page.
I read this book in one sitting and was really swept into the storyline.



I liked to see that Catherine and Nick (Blood Memory) are together and that she is moving on with her life after what happened in book 1.



The storyline in this one was great and the author does a wonderful job at getting the reader inside the minds of these characters. Detective Ryan Beckman is ironically assigned to a murder case for a crime of passion that she herself commited. She is hell bent on framing Mathews wife. She is also being very careful of what information she divulges, since she's been inside Mathews homes and knows her way around. She is very careful while interviewing suspects and friends of Mathews, even coming across one of his interns who saw the two together and knew of the affair.

Rumors swirled about the candidate-financial improprieties, shady business deals, extramarital affairs. She had never suceeded in running down any of them. They were like a dull throbbing in her head, elusive, maddening and persistent.

p.14

Catherine is on the prowl, trying to get as much information as she can, risking her life in the process.

There is plenty of suspense in this one, and I was really curious to see how it would all end. All in all, a great read and I do recommend this one to fans of this genre or for anyone looking to get swept up in a great thriller.






Overall, Blood Memory and The Perfect Suspect, are both suspenseful entertaining reads and I do recommend them. Although they are part of a series, they can be read as stand alone books.


Out of these two book, I enjoyed The Perfect Suspect more.







Special thanks to Kaitlyn over @ the Penguin Group for making this possible.

title: The Quiet Gentleman

author: Georgette Heyer

pages: 360

genre: regency mystery/romance

published: 1951

source: sent for review from Sourcebooks

first line: In the guide-books it figured as Stanyon Castle; on the tongues of the villagers, it was the Castle; the Polite World spoke of it as Stanyon, as it spoke of Woburn, and of Cheveley.

rated: 4 out of 5 stars









Before I start my review, I just wanted to mention that I believe Georgette Heyer to be the Queen Bee of Regency Mystery/Romance novels and I'm a big fan of her work. I'd also like to give many thanks to the publicists over @ Sourcebooks for providing me with several great Heyer titles over the past couple of years. They are the reason I discovered this wonderful author.





Now onto my review....I think you might already be able to tell how it will go.





About:


Gervase Frant returns home after surviving the Napoleanic Wars. Gervase is now the Earl of St. Erth and is home to claim himself as master of the estate known as Stanyon Manor. His step-mother Lady St.Erth, and step-brother Martin, are both openly unhappy about this. Also staying at Stanyon Castle are Gervase's cousin Theo and Miss Morville who is a guest.


One day while out riding, Gervase stumbles upon a maiden in distress. Miss Marianne Bolderwood has fallen off her horse.

Gervase notices right away how lovely Marianne is and begins, like so many others, to give her his attentions. This makes Martin furious, he thinks that Marianne is his personal property and plans to marry her someday, fueling his hatred of Gervase even more.





With Gervase waking in the middle of the night swearing someone was just in his room, to his being setup to purposely take a tumble off his horse, the new Earl has the distinct feeling that the jealous Martin is behind it all. Miss Morville actually tries to help Gervase figure out who is trying to do him harm and she becomes a good friend to the new Earl.









My thoughts:


Since I first read Heyer's work she has reminded me of Jane Austen.

Heyer brings Regency England to life in her stories, and as I read, I am instantly transported there. She set a Gothic mood in this novel from the start with her description of Stanyon Manor and I really enjoyed that.


Heyer had a knack for creating fun characters and storylines. There was a sweet and unexpected romance in the plot.



Gervase Frant himself is a well thought out character and he is definitely The Quiet Gentleman, never losing his composure and finding clever ways to get through difficult situations. He makes for a great hero.

There's a swordfight, people wandering the castle at night, a ball, men fighting over a female, witty dialogue and murder attempts. What more could you want in a book?




I giggled as I read, was swept into the storyline and sighed as I turned the last page. Heyer had me guessing until the end and the person behind trying to harm Gervase wasn't who I thought it would be.



I enjoyed reading The Quiet Gentleman so much that I was up past 1:00 AM to finish reading it, even though I had to be at work early the following day.


With interesting characters, a Gothic like mansion, a dash of humor and some romance, you have a fun mystery the likes of which only Georgette Heyer can weave.

"Good God! The fellow's nothing but a curst dandy!"
p.13

Check out Blodeuedd's review of The Quiet Gentleman.







About the author:





Georgette Heyer (16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English historical romance and detective fiction novelist. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. The couple spent several years living in Tanganyika and Macedonia before returning to England in 1929. After her novel These Old Shades became popular despite its release during the General Strike, Heyer determined that publicity was not necessary for good sales. For the rest of her life, she refused to grant interviews, telling a friend: "My private life concerns no one but myself and my family."

quoted from wiki

title: Sons and Princes

author: James Lepore

genre: crime thriller

published: 2011

source: sent by publisher for review

pages: 330

first line: Joe Black Massi's funeral had been a singular experience.

rated: 3 1/2 stars out of 5









About:


Sons and Princes is a gritty novel about family, betrayal, revenge, drugs and the mob.


Chris Massi's father was a mafia assassin and his ex-father in law is a mob boss.
Chris himself was an successful attorney and has been trying to live the straight and narrow life with is wife and children. A series of events had him disbarred, but Chris wants nothing to do with the mafia.



A now divorced Chris wants to keep his children out of the mob scene more than ever. His fourteen year old son Matt however, seems to be going toward a life of crime, and with a powerful grandfather it will be easy for him to be part of the mob.


Chris makes a deal with his ex-father in law, Junior Boy DiGiglio. He will kill someone for him if Junior Boy leaves his grandson Matt alone.




Chris' younger brother Joseph is a heroin junkie. Joseph has survived by being the boy toy of lonely rich women, in turn they pay him an allowance and ask him no questions.



Ed Dolan was Chris' best friend growing up, but when Chris' father killed Ed's, Ed has grown to hate Chris with a vengeance.


Michele Mathias is a heroin addict who will stop at nothing to get her next fix. When her roomate turns up dead however, she finds herself to be the next target.



Michele and Chris' lives become intertwined as these two try to find a way to save themselves and the ones they love.





My thoughts:



I am a fan of James Lepore's, having read A World I Never Made and Blood of My Brother.

When I began reading Sons and Princes, I had good expectations. I'm happy to say this book didn't disappoint.
The storyline takes twists and turns as it takes the reader into the seedy underworld of the mob. You see a world that's not pretty. Drugs, sex, revenge and violence are all weaved within the storyline set in New York and New Jersey.



Two of the main characters are heroin addicts and as you read Lepore really drags you into a harsh world where nothing is sugar coated.




I liked how the story would take a twist here and there that I wasn't expecting. Joseph, Chris' brother, really impressed me with his courage and sheer determination.
Chris himself was a complex and likable character. He battled personal demons and did what he felt he had to do to keep his family safe. He has a good heart.


The relationship between Chris and Michele had me intrigued. I wanted to see what would become of these two.


LePore wraps the ending up really well and I was satisfied with the conclusion as well as surprised with a few reveals.

When he lay down on the sofa to sleep on Saturday night, Chris smiled as he stared up at the shadowy ceiling. He had forgotten completely about the things that had been so pressing on his mind and his heart in the lifetime prior to the one he had just begun: his disbarment and so-called public disgrace, the devil's bargain that Junior Boy had offered him, the anxiety about what to do for a living. After reading Joseph's letter at La Luna, he had stepped into a new world where there was no room for such mundane worries. Such are the blessings of big trouble: it puts little trouble in perspective.

p. 244

I recommend Sons and Princes for anyone looking to read a good crime thriller with memorable characters and a suspenseful, fast paced plot.




Special thanks to Lou Aronica for making this possible.

title: Dead of Wynter

author: Spencer Seidel

pages: 292

genre: fiction/suspense

published: May 2011

source: sent for review by Booktrib

first line: The ghost, the dead man, was still following.

rated: 4 out of 4 stars











About:

Alice Wynter receives a phone call from her mother telling her that her father is dead. When she goes back to her hometown of Redding, Maine, she discovers that her twin brother Chris is missing. Alice grew up in a troubled household with an alcoholic and abusive father. As a result, her twin Chris was a troubled teen and developed his own drinking problem. Alice was able to move away and start a life of her own, but now that she's back in town, bad memories are resurfacing as the police are trying to figure out what happened to Alice's father and brother.
As the story goes on, there are flashbacks to 1984 when Chris was a teen and getting into deep trouble as well as glimpses into Alice's homelife.







My thoughts:


Dead of Wynter is one of those novels that slowly draws you in. I enjoyed uncovering the story layer by layer.
I wondered if Chris was responsible for his fathers murder and what secrets Alice and her mother were keeping. I felt bad for Alice having to go back to her hometown where so many painful memories were waiting.

The flashbacks were done well and were a necessary part of the story in order for the reader to get a glimpse into these characters lives.

Author Spencer Seidel does a great job at creating a creepy atmosphere. This was a good mystery and I enjoyed getting caught up in it.

Like she had reached some great destination, some great place, but had forgotten how she'd gotten there. It was the journey, the connection to the past that was gone. And she'd carefully constructed her life that way. And now that curtain was being pulled back, just a little, to remind her that the lies she'd told herself and others over the years were just that: lies. She wasn't a real person. She was a facade.

p.27

About the author:

Spencer Seidel lives and works in suburban New Jersey but has also called Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine home. He is an honors graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University and attended the Berklee College of Music to study guitar, which he has been playing for over 25 years. His love of reading and books began as a child after discovering Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Later, he was drawn to darker work by authors such as Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Jack Ketchum, who continue to influence his dark novels and short stories.

Special thanks to Booktrib.

title: Relentless

author: Dean Koontz

genre: suspense/thriller

pages: 428

published: 2009

first line: This is a thing I've learned: Even with a gun to my head, I am capable of being convulsed with laughter.

rated: 2 out of 5 stars

As a writer, I succeed by deceiving readers into accepting that the story I'm telling as true is as true as their lives, that what happens to my characters should intellectually and emotionally involve them no less than they should be concerned about their real-world neighbors. But I have never been good at self-deception.

Relentless is about an insane book critic, it caught my interest right away.



34 year old writer Cullen Greenwich is married to Penny Bloom, has a 6 year old six-year-old prodigy son named Milo and a dog named Lassie.

Literary critic Shearman Waxx gives Cullen's latest book a bad review. Cullen is really upset by this, even though his wife keeps telling him to just let it go.
When Cullen finds out what restaurant the book critic frequents, he goes there for lunch with his son, and runs into Waxx. After an odd run-in in the men's room, Waxx takes notice of Cullen and says one word to him on his way out...'Doom'.



Soon after Cullen spots an intruder in his home, and identifies him as being the book critic. What ensues afterward is an all out terrorizing of Cullen and his family by this book reviewer. The family ends up on the run, not wanting to inform the police because of the media circus that would develop. With the help of friends and various connections, they are able to stay at different homes, but somehow Waxx keeps finding them.



You do need to be willing to suspend disbelief for this read. I just didn't feel like this book critic had enough motive to become hell bent on killing Cullen and his family.


Before you know it, Waxx is after the family, there's explosions and shootings and it's all kind of 'over the top'. Authorities don't notice all this mayhem?


I felt like the methods Waxx was using were just plain absurd. He was almost like a larger than life villain finding Cullen and his family no matter where they went.

The longer Waxx waited to speak again, the more I wondered what his game might be. I had no doubt that he had come here to harm us. That he wanted first to terrorize us seemed obvious, as well. But his boldness, the risks he took, and his eerie patience in the dark gave me the impression that his purpose was more complex than the psychotic thrill of torment and murder.

I also felt like two parents who are on the run from a psychotic maniac wouldn't be so calm and collected about discussing it in front of their 6 year old.


Here's Cullen speaking to 6 year old Milo about what the book critic threatened:

"All right, all right. He says he'll cut out your heart and feed it to your mother, Are you both happy to know that? Mmmmm?


"Don't worry, Milo," Penny said. "I absolutely won't eat it."


"What else did he say?" Milo asked.


"Then he'll cut out your mother's heart and feed it to me."


"This guy," Milo judged, "is a major sicko."

It's been a while since I last read a Koontz book. Years actually. And I've been meaning to pick him up again. Koontz is a favorite of mine, I tend to feel like he won't disappoint.


I'm really, really sorry to say I didn't really enjoy this one more.
I was curious as to what would happen next, and at 428 pages, I'm surprised I finished reading it. I kept putting it away and considered making it a DNF. I was set on finishing it though, because I hoped it would get better. He did make me laugh a few times while reading.

I have a 20-gauge pistol-grip shotgun. It'll stop any book critic ever born.

I still love Koontz anyway and will continue to read his work. This is my first time reading this author where I've been disappointed.




I think Koontz puts his heart and soul into his writing and I did find a few passages I enjoyed. As I read, I would find him throwing glimmers of hope into the storyline.

Among other things, my past had taught me that the very fact of my existence is a cause for amazement and wonder, that we must seize life because we never know how much of it remains for us, that faith is the antidote to despair and that laughter is the music of faith.

This book has been read as part of R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge

**First review of 2010 :) **


title: Await Your Reply

author: Dan Chaon

genre: fiction/suspense

pages: 324

published: 2009

first line: We are on our way to the hospital, Ryan's father says.

rated: 4 out of 5






Await Your Reply is a story about three strangers whose lives are intertwined. At first you don't know how these peoples lives are connected, but as you keep reading, the truth is slowly revealed.



Lucy leaves her small hometown in Ohio and runs away with her older History teacher with dreams of starting a wonderful new life. He takes her to a deserted house in Nebraska in the middle of nowhere and Lucy starts to notice his odd behavior. Soon enough Lucy finds a large sum of money hidden in his study, and begins to wonder if the man she loves isn't who he says he is.





Ryan has just found out a disturbing secret about his parents and decides to run away. He leaves the University he attends hoping to start a new life. He finds his long lost father and winds up getting involved in some shady business.



Miles and Hayden are twin brothers. Hayden is troubled, he is a paranoid schizophrenic. Miles is searching for his brother who has been missing for 10 years.
As the story unfolds, he begins to put together pieces of the puzzle and gets closer to finding his long lost twin.




This is the type of book you can read in one sitting, I really enjoyed it. This is also one of those books you can read when you don't know what you're in the mood to read next. Do you know what I mean? When you just want to read a good story, something that will grab and hold your attention.




The pages just flow smoothly and before you know it you are completely emmersed in the plot. The storyline keeps you guessing as to what is going on and you begin to wonder about the characters. As I was reading, I felt like I was unraveling clues in the story. Dan Chaon really keeps you guessing until the very end.

This was what real grief felt like-she had never truly felt it before. All the times she had been sad, all the times she had wept in her life, all the glooms and melancholies were merely moods, mere passing whims. Grief was a different thing altogether.

Special thanks to library thing for sending me an ARC of Await Your Reply.



This book has also been reviewed by The Book Zombie

title: The Taking

author: Dean Koontz

genre: horror/suspense

pages: 410

first line: A few minutes past one o'clock in the morning, a hard rain fell without warning.

rated: 5 out of 5








'One rainy night, the end of the world began.'







'The Taking' is one of my favorite Dean Koontz novels. The only books I re-read are ones I absolutely love, so I decided to pick this one up again.


Early one morning, in her cozy California home, Molly Sloan wakes up from bed, unable to sleep. Her husband, Eric, is next to her, sleepy soundly. Molly can hear the sound of rain falling outside, and she senses something is not right.

'Nonetheless, as she scanned the night woods, the nape of her neck prickled as though a ghost lover has pressed his ectoplasmic lips againts her skin. A shudder of inexplicable misgiving passed through her.

Rattled by the conviction that something in the forest returned her scrutiny from behind the wet veil of the storm, Molly backed away from the window.'

She winds up going outside and touching the rain drops, and knows for sure there is something dangerous happening. This is not normal rain, it has a strange scent to it, and touching it makes Molly feel dirty.





Soon enough Eric wakes from a nightmare, and he and Molly turn on the TV to see if there are any weather forecasts. The rain is a heavy downpour and blue snow is falling in other parts of the world. They soon find out that this is not normal weather, that something sinister is out there, so they decide to head out in search of others. While in thier car, they hear a radio broadcasting a recording of a team of astronauts who have recently made contact with these other 'beings'. They hear these astronauts being slaughtered by the aliens.




They find a group of townspeople who have taken refuge in the local bar. These other people are divided in what they want to do. Some want to fight, others want to hide and some want to make peace with whatever has landed on Earth. Molly has a premonition that she is meant to save any children that have been abandoned in this 'rainstorm'. She & Eric head out in search of the children.







I enjoyed the plot, the characters are well written and this book takes off from page one. There isn't a dull moment.

'Although she had resisted this knowledge all her life, had lived determinedly in the future, focused there by ambition, she understood at last that this was the real condition of humanity: The dance of life occurred not yesterday or tomorrow, but only here at the still point that was the present. This truth is simple, self-evident, but difficult to accept, for we sentimentalize the past and wallow in it, while we endure the moment and in every waking hour dream of the future.

What Molly had done thus far in her life was the history of her soul, unalterable, ineradicable. What she hoped to do in the future was of no meaning if she failed to do the wise thing, the good thing, moment by moment, here at the still point, here
in the dance of life.'

I also like Molly & Eric's relationship, it is believeable and you wind up caring what happens to these characters. 'The Taking' is a great read, especially if you're in the mood for a good science fiction/horror/end of the world story. At time Koontz writes this novel, almost like poetry. And I enjoy the references to T.S. Eliot throughout.

'They were as different as mice and moonbeams.

Considering their contrasting natures, they shared a love that seemed unlikely. Yet love was the cord that bound them together, the sinewy fiber that gave them strength to weather dissapointment, even tragedy.'

Some of you have already heard this story...but I'm telling it again. *grin*

I liked this book so much, that when I first read it a few years ago, I mailed Dean Koontz a fan letter telling him how much I loved the book and his writing. I included one of my crocheted elephants with the letter. I didn't expect a response, but a few weeks later, I received a package in the mail. It took me a few seconds for my brain to register what this was once I opened the package....lol. He sent me a personalized letter, thanking me for the elephant. And a hardcover copy of 'The Taking', personally autographed for me. Yeah, that was an O-M-G moment for me. I love my personal autographed book and letter, and I show it off to whoever will listen...lol.














this read has been part of the following reading challenges:

100 +

it's the end of the world challenge

TBR

suspense & thriller