book review

5 stars – Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz

~ Erika K ~ 4 Comments

Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz

Goodreads description:
Ashley BellFeaturing the most exhilarating heroine in memory and a sophisticated, endlessly ingenious, brilliantly paced narrative through dark territory and deep mystery, this is a new milestone in literary suspense and a major new breakout book from the long acclaimed master.

At twenty-two, Bibi Blair’s doctors tell her that she’s dying. Two days later, she’s impossibly cured. Fierce, funny, dauntless, she becomes obsessed with the idea that she was spared because she is meant to save someone else. Someone named Ashley Bell. This proves to be a dangerous idea. Searching for Ashley Bell, ricocheting through a southern California landscape that proves strange and malevolent in the extreme, Bibi is plunged into a world of crime and conspiracy, following a trail of mysteries that become more sinister and tangled with every twisting turn.

Genre: Thriller / Fantasy / Paranormal
My Rating: ***** (5 of 5 stars)

When she realized that the tears might be as persistent as the shakes, she ran for the only medicine that reliably cured any bout of unpleasant feelings: a book. ~Ashley Bell

This was the best Dean Koontz novel I’ve read since the first Odd Thomas. I loved Bibi, and there was a great cast of supporting characters, including her parents, her best pal Pogo, and her fiance, a Navy Seal named Pax.  Not everyone was on Bibi’s side, however, and once again Mr. Koontz proves that sometimes the scariest monsters are those who wear human faces.

This is one of those stories that is very hard to talk about without giving too much away, and I would not want to ruin the surprises for anyone who might choose to read the book. With that said, here’s what I can tell you without spoiling anything…. The novel starts out with Bibi, a novelist, discovering that she has brain cancer. After hearing that she has less then a year to live, she surprises everyone (except maybe herself) by waking completely cancer free the next morning. As a celebratory gift, her parents send a psychic to Bibi, and during her reading, she discovers that her life was spared so that she could save someone named Ashley Bell. The journey that Bibi has to make in her quest to locate Ashley forces her to revisit places and experiences from her own past that she has long since forgotten.

The buildup in this novel started out slow but constant, and once it got moving I couldn’t put it down. Any Dean Koontz fan, or any thriller fan for that matter, will love this one. While Dean Koontz may be thought of as a horror writer, and there are some paranormal elements to this story, non-horror fans should enjoy this one also.

Note: I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Audiobook Review – Station Eleven

~ Erika K ~ 5 Comments

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Read by Kirsten Potter

Condensed Goodreads description:

Station ElevenAn audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star (Arthur), his would-be savior (Jeevan), and a nomadic group of actors (including Kirsten) roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty. As Arthur falls in and out of love, as Jeevan watches the newscasters say their final good-byes, and as Kirsten finds herself caught in the crosshairs of the prophet, we see the strange twists of fate that connect them all. A novel of art, memory, and ambition, Station Eleventells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it.

Genre: Fiction / SciFi / Dystopian
My Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

This is an instance of a book cover catching my attention, and refusing to let it go. I started seeing this one first in magazines, and then bookstores and websites all over the place until I decided I had to read it. I had the impression that it took place in a post-pandemic world, but that was about it. I’m glad I didn’t read the book blurb more carefully because I don’t think that I would have been interested in the story of a Hollywood star and a band of traveling actors. I would probably not have picked it up, and I would have missed something beautiful.

This book is, at its heart, a story of survival and resilience. It starts at a point in time just as the flu pandemic is beginning. We meet a variety of individuals at a performance of King Lear, and then follow several of them both forward and backward in time, learning about their past, and watching as their futures unfold in the new world. The author’s main focus is on the characters, what drives them, what mattered to them before the collapse of civilization and afterward, and their personal relationships more than the disaster itself.

Kirsten Potter does an excellent job with the narration – her voice and timing were a pleasure to listen to.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and would recommend it to fans of almost any type of fiction or word lovers in general. It was so full of memorable quotes, that I caught myself jotting them down to read later, and that isn’t something I normally do. Since I have them though, I’d like to leave you with a few of my favorites…

“Hell is the absence of the people you long for.”

“It was gorgeous and claustrophobic. I loved it and I always wanted to escape.”

“What I mean to say is, the more you remember, the more you’ve lost.”

“First we only want to be seen, but once we’re seen, that’s not enough anymore. After that, we want to be remembered.”

“She had never entirely let go of the notion that if she reached far enough with her thoughts she might find someone waiting, that if two people were to cast their thoughts outward at the same moment they might somehow meet in the middle.”

“There are certain qualities of light that blur the years.”

 

 

Audiobook Review – The Kill Switch by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood

~ Erika K ~ 1 Comment

The Killswitch by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood
Narrated by Scott Aiello

Tucker Wayne #1

The Kill Switch (Tucker Wayne, #1)Description from Goodreads:

Who does the U.S. government call upon when a mission requires perfect stealth, execution, and discretion? Meet the newest recruits to the expanding Sigma Force universe—former Army Ranger Tucker Wayne and his stalwart companion, Kane, a military working dog of exceptional abilities — in:

THE KILL SWITCH

The mission seems simple enough: extract a pharmaceutical magnate from Russian soil, a volatile man who holds the secret to a deadly bioweapon. But nothing is as it appears to be. A conspiracy of world-shattering scope unravels as Tucker and Kane struggle to keep one move ahead of their deadly enemies.

Genre: Thriller / Adventure
Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

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Audiobook Review – The Hidden Child by Camilla Läckberg

~ Erika K ~ 2 Comments

The Hidden Child by Camilla Läckberg
Narrated by Simon Vance

Fjällbacka Series #5

The Hidden Child (Patrik Hedström, #5)Description from Goodreads:

Crime writer Erica Falck is shocked to discover a Nazi medal among her late mother’s possessions. Haunted by a childhood of neglect, she resolves to dig deep into her family’s past and finally uncover the reasons why.

Her enquiries lead her to the home of a retired history teacher. He was among her mother’s circle of friends during the Second World War but her questions are met with bizarre and evasive answers. Two days later he meets a violent death. Detective Patrik Hedström, Erica’s husband, is on paternity leave but soon becomes embroiled in the murder investigation. Who would kill so ruthlessly to bury secrets so old?

Genre: Mystery
Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

Had I realized when I picked it up that this was the 4th book in a series, I would have looked for the first book to start at the beginning. I didn’t feel like I was missing anything starting at this point in the story, however. The relationships between characters were either evident or explained well enough that you can easily read or listen to this book without having read the previous books, and not feel lost.

A lot of Swedish crime fiction has a particular melancholy feel to it, and The Hidden Child is no exception. The author did injected occasional brief moments of humor into the story that helped lighten the mood, however, and they kept it from feeling too dark.

The story is told in both in the present, and through flashbacks, in the time around WW2. It follows the police investigation into the murder of a local historian, as well as the family drama unfolding as Erica Faulk digs into her mother’s past. The two series of events turn out to be more intertwined than anyone could have imagined, and even though I could see where it was going, the story didn’t give everything away at once and I didn’t really know what had happened until the end.

Making the story even more enjoyable to listen to, Simon Vance did a great job narrating. He has a smooth, even voice that fit the story perfectly. He also either speaks Swedish or spent some quality time learning how to pronounce the Swedish names and places in the book! 🙂

If you are a fan of police procedural and / or historical mysteries, give this one a try!

Review – Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

~ Erika K ~ 4 Comments

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

“I have loved you all my life, Mal,” I whispered through my tears. “There is no end to our story.” -Siege and Storm

Siege and Storm (The Grisha, #2)Description from Goodreads:

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

The Grisha, #2

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy
Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

This is book #2 in the Grisha series, and now that I’ve finished, I can’t wait to pick up Ruin and Rising to see how it all ends. This continuation of the story started in Shadow and Bone has Alina running from the Darkling, the Apparat, and at times even trying to run from her own power and the person she is becoming.

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Book Review – The Mine by John A. Heldt

~ Erika K ~ 1 Comment

The Mine by John A. Heldt

The Mine (Northwest Passage #1)Description from Goodreads:

In May 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can’t use, money he can’t spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of swing dancing and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.

Northwest Passage #1

Genre: Fantasy / Time Travel / Historical Fiction
Rating: *** (3 of 5 stars)

The Mine is a story about a young man’s accidental journey from the year 2000 into the past, just prior to WW2. Joel Smith and his friend Alan take a detour during a road trip, and discover an abandoned mine. A determined Joel decides to investigate, leaving his friend, and his timeline, behind him. Arriving in 1941, he eventually befriends a young man named Tom, and joins Tom’s circle of friends and family.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about Joel near the beginning of the book, when he first arrived in the past. He seemed to take almost everything in stride, with no strong emotion struggle, and no real refusal to believe what was happening. I had a hard time accepting that, but it could be because I don’t think that it is how I would have reacted in his situation! 🙂

The author did a great job of making you feel that you were there in pre-war 1941, however. As I was introduced to Tom and his friends, I became more and more invested in Joel’s situation, and in his developing romance. I felt that he did mature somewhat as the story went on, and he realized what harm his advanced knowledge of the war and of Tom’s future could wreak. As close as he had grown to his new comrades, he really struggled with the decision to stay or go once the opportunity to return to his own time finally arose.

All in all, I enjoyed this story. While it may have been a little slow to start, it developed into a sweet story of friendship and true love. Fans of time-travel romance should like this one, and the next 4 books in this series!

**Disclaimer – I received a free copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review**

About the Author:
John A. HeldtJohn A. Heldt is the author of the critically acclaimed Northwest Passage and American Journey series. The former reference librarian and award-winning sportswriter has loved getting subjects and verbs to agree since writing book reports on baseball heroes in grade school. A graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of Iowa, Heldt is an avid fisherman, sports fan, home brewer, and reader of thrillers and historical fiction. When not sending contemporary characters to the not-so-distant past, he weighs in on literature and life at johnheldt.blogspot.com.

Connect with John online:
Blog: http://johnheldt.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnaheldt
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/John-A.-Heldt/e/B007A23EQS
Indie View: http://www.theindieview.com/indie-authors/john-a-heldt/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5754231.John_A_Heldt
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/authors/a1002681160/John-A-Heldt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnheldt

Audiobook Review – By Book or by Crook by Eva Gates

~ Erika K ~ 6 Comments

By Book or by Crook – Eva Gates
Read by Elise Arsenault
By Book or By Crook (Lighthouse Library Mystery #1)
Lighthouse Library #1

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of book #2 in this series (Booked for Trouble) to review a while ago. I enjoyed the book, so I decided to go back to the beginning while the series is still young!

In By Book or By Crook, we meet Lucy Richardson, a librarian who has moved from Boston to the Outer Banks area to escape both her mother and a relationship that she doesn’t see a future in. She has family, an aunt, uncle, and cousins, in the area, and her aunt introduces her to the head librarian at the Bodie Island public library. Soon Lucy has a new job and a new home – an apartment on the top floor of the lighthouse in which the library resides.

At a reception to celebrate the arrival of a collection of first edition Jane Austen novels for display at the library, a member of the board is found dead in the rare books room. Soon afterwards, the first editions begin disappearing one-by-one from their display case. With Bertie, the head librarian, suspected of the crimes, Lucy and the rest of the library staff do some investigating on their own to clear Bertie’s name and protect the remainder of the Jane Austen novels.

I enjoyed this book, but I had to keep reminding myself that this story took place before Booked for Trouble. There is a bit of a love triangle (one of my least favorite tropes, but not too bad yet) going on in book number two that is just developing in this first book. It was fun to go back and see how Lucy met all of the recurring characters from the second story, and to see that her sense of justice has been there right from the beginning. I will definitely be reading Lucy’s future adventures.

While the narrator does a good job with her not-too-Southern accent throughout, I wasn’t thrilled with her pacing while reading. If you’re thinking of giving this series a try, print would be the way to go.

Review – Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

~ Erika K ~ 7 Comments

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Shadow and Bone (The Grisha, #1)Description from Goodreads:

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

The Grisha Series, #1

Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

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Audiobook Review – Palmetto Poison by C. Hope Clark

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Palmetto Poison by C. Hope Clark
Narrated by Pyper Down
Palmetto Poison
Carolina Slade #3

Genre: Mystery
Rating **** (4 of 5 stars)

After the Governor’s brother-in-law is charged with possessing and distrusting prescription medications illegally, Slade’s boss asks her to look into the matter. As soon as she starts investigating though, people start dying, and no one seems to want to cooperate with her investigation.

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Cozy Review – Candy Corn Murder by Leslie Meier

~ Erika K ~ 5 Comments

Candy Corn Murder by Leslie Meier
Candy Corn Murder (Lucy Stone Mystery, #22)
Lucy Stone Mystery #23

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Rating: *** (3 of 5 stars)

Description from Goodreads: Halloween is coming to Tinker’s Cove, Maine, and local reporter Lucy Stone is covering the town’s annual Giant Pumpkin Fest for the Pennysaver. There’s the pumpkin-boat regatta, the children’s Halloween party, the pumpkin weigh-in…even a contest where home-built catapults hurl pumpkins at an old Dodge! But not everything goes quite as planned…

This is the 23rd Lucy Stone mystery, but it works fine as a standalone story. You don’t need to have read any of the previous books to enjoy this one.

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