Book Review: Love is Murder by Sandra Brown

This is a fantastic book! Love is Murder is a compilation of 29 stories selected by Sandra Brown in the "romance suspense" genre, romantic stories with a terror twist or vice versa. Some of these authors were very familiar - like Lee Child - while others were new. Of the 29, 20 were my favorites. I know, I know!

The most brilliant story of them all is Diamond Drop by Roxanne St. Claire. It is a short story about her series Bullet Catchers, an elite protection organization. The main character in Diamond Drop is Donovan Rush. He is a courier for diamonds from Antwerp, Belgium to Paris, France. He must deliver diamonds for a new client, Boisvert Jewelers. The story is smart and fast-paced with a twist at the end.

Oh, there is the Hot Note by Patricia Rosemoor. In Love is Murder, Patricia writes a short story regarding her series about Shelley Caldwell, a homicide detective in Chicago, Illinois. Caldwell must solve supernatural mysteries, along with her half-vampire/half-human boyfriend.

And, definitely do not miss the Black Ops, Inc. series by Cindy Gerard!  Black Ops, Inc. is a private security and espionage firm. Her short story is Dying to Score about a reconnaissance mission in Central Guatemala by Crystal Debrowski Reed a/k/a "Tinkerbelle" and her husband Johnny Duane Reed, along with Luke Colter a/k/a "Doc Holliday" and Gabe Jones a/k/a "The Archangel." Johnny is seriously wounded in the shoulder, and Tink and her companions must extract Johnny before they are overrun by mercenaries of a Mexican drug cartel.

I am usually not a fan of compilation books. This one, however, is the exception. I really hope you read Love is Murder. Two thumbs' up!

P.S. I cannot wait to give my list of "new" authors to my sister Julie. She feeds my library addiction. (Thank goodness!)

Book Review: The Blood Gospel: The Order of the Sanguines Series by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. Kudos to my sister Julie for finding this brilliant story. The authors are total geniuses. This fabulous book is The Blood Gospel: The Order of the Sanguines Series by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell. I am usually not interested in historical fiction. I find those books dull, boring and hopelessly incorrect. However, The Blood Gospel: The Order of the Sanguines Series is amazing.

I loved this book. I absolutely could not put it down. But, I had a tremendously difficult time writing a review. There was so much that I wanted to say, however I could not get my thoughts organized. So, forgive me for my lack of imagination, but here is the amazon.com description of the book. Please do not let my lack of originality keep you from reading this awesome, awesome book.

An earthquake in Masada, Israel, kills hundreds and reveals a tomb buried in the heart of the mountain. A trio of investigators—Sergeant Jordan Stone, a military forensic expert; Father Rhun Korza, a Vatican priest; and Dr. Erin Granger, a brilliant but disillusioned archaeologist—are sent to explore the macabre discovery, a subterranean temple holding the crucified body of a mummified girl.

But a brutal attack at the site sets the three on the run, thrusting them into a race to recover what was once preserved in the tomb's sarcophagus: a book rumored to have been written by Christ's own hand, a tome that is said to hold the secrets to His divinity. The enemy who hounds them is like no other, a force of ancient evil directed by a leader of impossible ambitions and incalculable cunning.

From crumbling tombs to splendorous churches, Erin and her two companions must confront a past that traces back thousands of years, to a time when ungodly beasts hunted the dark spaces of the world, to a moment in history when Christ made a miraculous offer, a pact of salvation for those who were damned for eternity.

Here is a novel that is explosive in its revelation of a secret history. Why do Catholic priests wear pectoral crosses? Why are they sworn to celibacy? Why do the monks hide their countenances under hoods? And why does Catholicism insist that the consecration of wine during Mass results in its transformation to Christ's own blood? The answers to all go back to a secret sect within the Vatican, one whispered as rumor but whose very existence was painted for all to see by Rembrandt himself, a shadowy order known simply as the Sanguines. 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Blood-Gospel-Sanguines-Series/dp/006199104X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363738061&sr=8-1&keywords=blood+gospel

Book Review: Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) by Patricia Briggs

Vampires, werewolves, and fairies! Oh my!! The series of Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs is wicked cool. This is a fantastic series. Definitely begin with Book #1, Moon Called. I have enjoyed these books so much that I'll write a separate review for each book.

In a world where vampires, the fae and werewolves co-exist with humans, Mercy straddles the line as one of the few remaining "walkers" from a Native American magical bloodline - she can shapeshift into a coyote. As a child, Mercy was orphaned and was raised by a pack of werewolves. She ran away from the pack and an early marriage in her teens. Now she lives alone, the owner of her own car repair shop. The Alpha of the Columbia Basin Pack is her neighbor, her old boss is an ancient fae, and she fixes car for the vampire seethe. This is one cool chick.

Moon Called focuses on an apparent clan war among werewolves. When Mercy takes in a newly-made teen werewolf she discovers someone is performing experiments on werewolves and creating new werewolves to sell. She seeks refuge in her childhood pack when the Alpha is badly injured, and must solve what evil is preying on young werewolves.

Moon Called is a tautly written action thriller in a believable alternate universe. Briggs outlines a creative, highly detailed society in which they live without long detailed explanations. Her characters are well-written, sympathetic and entertaining. There are a ton of characters to cheer for, and among these different supernatural species only Mercy is friend to them all. Well, almost all.....

Book Review: Cassandra Palmer Series by Karen Chance

 3/24/13: Update - Okay, I have now read the series, Touch the Dark (Book 1), Claimed by  Shadow (Book 2), Embrace the Night (Book 3), Curse the Dawn (Book 4), and Hunt the Moon (Book 5). I am enjoying this series, but they must be read in order. The first three books have way too much detail and not enough action. Yada, yada, yada. Book 4 is really amusing and why I'm willing to give this series another chance.

The heroine of the books is Cassandra Palmer, who is to be crowned as Pythia, the world's ruling clairvoyant. She can also time-shift, which is helpful in fighting evil mages who are trying change history to what they want. I wasn't interested in Cassie in the slightest. Boring. She is constantly whining about her situation and bickering with those who are trying to help her. She runs around clueless, make stupid mistakes and gets people killed. She drives me nuts. I want Cassie to be the tough, cool chick of Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson. Totally different writers, but I think Cassie would be a must better character.

However, the series is worth reading because of the secondary characters. There's Mircea, master vampire and her betrothed; Pritkin, half human/half demon who is training her in self-defense; Marco, an ancient and very cool vampire who is head of her vampire bodyguard team (a former Roman Centurion!); and Jonah, the faerie version of Tim Gunn (Project Runway).

Compel yourself to get thru the first three books and then it gets better. Hunt the Moon (Book 5) ended with a cliffhanger. I don't care about Cassie, but I do care about the others. I'll keep reading to find out what happens next. Just, caveat emptor. I have a love/hate relationship with these books, but I still say give a try.

P.S. This series is rated M for mature audiences only.

Book Review: Vampire for Hire Series by J.R. Rain

I started reading the Vampire for Hire series J.R. Rain with Moon Dance, Book #1. It was free on Amazon. I have since read American Vampire and Vampire Moon, but they were $3.99 each. The novels are actually short stories. My Kindle ends at 75%-80%. The rest of the downloads are previews of his other books. I find this annoying. I paid for a novel, so I want a novel. It's not really a series as much one book chopped up into little pieces.

The premise is a good one - Samantha Moon was turned into a vampire six years ago. She's a mother of two children, married, has a sister, and the usual array of other characters. First of all, you can tell these "books" are written by a man. Samantha finds every man sexy, except for drug dealers and other baddies. She even thinks the older, overweight, donut-jelly-stains-on-his-shirt-detective sexy. Seriously? Dude.......

Secondly, the storyline and characters are not well thought out. There's a lot of repetition - a lot of repetition - and conflicting subplots. I found myself continually yelling at my Kindle, "Oh, no! Don't go there," but, of course, he would. The best character of the "books" is Kingsley. A hunk-o-hunk of burning love, and a werewolf. He even survives getting shot in the face five times. Cool. But, J.R. Rain must be jealous of his own character. Samantha constantly spurns Kingsley, even though he loves her. He even provides her with goblets of blood. Now that's sexy. Of course, whenever she needs a friend, she turns to him. And, then, again, she wants nothing to do with him....yada, yada, yada.

Thirdly, she hates being a vampire. She loves being a vampire. She hates being a vampire. She loves being a vampire. She hates being a vampire. She loves being a vampire. Shut up, please!

I suggest reading the first one (Moon Dance) because it's free. However, buying a chapter at a time - at $3.99 each - is not sexy. The storyline isn't consistent enough to recommend buying the other "books" in the series. My local library doesn't have ebooks of #4 and #5, so I'm done reading. I don't want to pay another $3.99 for a short story and a lot of advertising. 

Book Review: Like Part of the Family

Like Part of the Family is an outstanding short story by Jonathan Maberry. It's only available on ebook,* but it's totally worth the 99 cents. It was a nice 30-minute read with a very good ending.

Being a short story, it left me hungry for so, so much more. Like his Joe Ledger books, I want - no need - this character to have full-blown character development in a series.

Jonathan Maberry is masterful... He knows how to reel the reader into his story and eagerly awaiting the next book. Although I must say, Maberry's writing is brilliant. If you don't want to read a longer Maberry just yet. Read this entertaining short story for a taste of what's to come. You'll beg for the next book too.

*8/19/12 Update: Check out the comment by Jonathan Maberry himself! How cool is that?! Note that the book is available in hard copy: And if anyone wants a print version of LIKE PART OF THE FAMILY, it's included in the recent anthology BEST NEW WEREWOLF TALES.

Joe Ledger Books by Jonathan Maberry

I am totally, completely, 100% addicted to books written by Jonathan Maberry...and I haven't even read them all. I thoroughly enjoy the Joe Ledger books. Ledger is the main character of the books. The books are action/adventure horror fiction. It is a wickedly cool combination. 

Joe Ledger, a Baltimore detective assigned to a counterterrorism task force, is recruited by the government to lead a new ultrasecret rapid-response group called the "Department of Military Sciences." His job as team leader is to battle monsters, mutants, genetically-altered humans and whatever nastiness is thrown his way. {I don't want to give too much away.} Ledger is the uber-fighting machine. A warrior's Warrior. He's Rambo, Jack Bauer, Jason Bourne all rolled into one, and then better than that.

The first book is Patient Zero. If you're a fan of zombie books, then you already know what "Patient Zero" means. If you don't, read the book. "Chapter One: When you have to kill the same terrorist in one week, then there's either something wrong with your skills or something wrong with your world. And there's nothing wrong with my skill." Deliciously terrifying.

The second book is The Dragon Factory.  This might be the wildest and most difficult to describe novel as there is so much going on. The Dragon Factory steams along at a rapid pace (a global Extinction Clock heads each chapter) as two rival groups of evil genetic experimenters have defied the laws of nature . At the heart of the principle group of geneticists is a team of evil geniuses being led by the Nazi Master Race teachings of the infamous Josef Mengele.

The third book is The King of Plagues. A London hospital explodes, killing thousands. This act of terrorism is only the beginning as the group behind the explosion turns to bioweapons in an effort to unleash a modern version of the biblical Ten Plagues of Egypt. I enjoyed the idea of "the Seven Kings" as a secret society that manipulates events from the shadows. And, with what is happening in the world today, totally believable.

The fourth book is Assassin's Code. Each book gets better and better. This is my favorite so far. Vampires! Vampires with nuclear weapons! This is a freaking awesome book. Seriously. As much as I love Patient Zero, Assassin's Code is one step above. I don't know how to describe the wit, humor, complexity, human moments and surprises that go with each book in this series. It is all so well done and I look forward to each new installment that comes out each year... I hope this series never ends.

If you have a Kindle, don't miss Material Witness, also a Joe Ledger book. If you have never tried one of Maberry's books, this short story is a fantastic place to start. It gives you great look at the star of his Joe Ledger series and the type of excitement and mayhem you can expect from his books. I had forgotten how much I loved the series until I came across this ebook on Amazon.

The only complaint I have for this series is that Maberry releases only one per year. I have to wait until March 26, 2013, for Extinction Machine. I read Assassin's Code when it was released on April 10th. Only four months have passed, but it feels longer than a year. I'm on pins and needles waiting for more Joe Ledger action! And, yes, I have read each book more than once. Now, that I've written this review, I'll read Patient Zero and Assassin's Code yet again.