Book Review: "The Dead Dragon Job" by Anne Lyle

 

Twenty years ago a dragon stole their loot - now they're stealing it back!

When Lord Jesper Winterglass rides into town with a dead dragon in tow, he instantly becomes the hero of the hour. The fact that no dragon has been seen near the city in centuries, or that the gold and jewels in the creature’s hoard must presumably have belonged to someone else once upon a time, doesn’t seem to bother Ravensby’s citizens. Most of them, anyway.

Detective Inspector Freya Gitasdottir has built her career on finding missing persons and lost valuables, and her investigations into the hoard’s original owners soon lead her to alleged jewel thief Lucian Thorne. But is he really a hardened criminal, or simply another victim of the arrogant, decadent Gentry who rule the kingdom of Alfheim?

Freya’s loyalties—and her magical talents—are stretched to the limit as she tries to find a middle way between the letter of the law and the dictates of her conscience. Because if she fails, the dragon isn’t the only one who’ll end up dead. - from Booksirens.com

This ARC was provided to me through Booksirens.com and I am leaving an unbiased review.

This is book one of a new series titled 'Winterglass & Thorne' and I admit, the only reason I looked at this one, was because the cover are attracted my eye. Once I read the plot synopsis, it intrigued me enough to request a copy for review. Sadly I was a bit let down.

In all truth, I did not finish this book. I made it around halfway through when I just could not stay in attention mode to complete anymore, though I did try again after several days. I liked the world design, with the intermixing of mythologies, even the ones I didn't understand, but was increasingly frustrated with the mount of racism between racial classes, and only the long-lived (elf-type) were the rich ones (though that makes perfect sense). There was just too much of it. Add in the prejudicial thoughts/sayings of many against the main character, a female law officer, and even her colleagues... It all was just too much. I am sure that it is part of the story to help make her breaks in the case appear as bigger events. 

I do enjoy a good story with a strong female lead, and this has the workings for it. I just felt that the attitudes of the masses against the character was way overboard. Some of the side characters did not seem to act/think as someone in their position would, or with the intelligence they should have. I think if those could be "banked down" this could be a good story.

Book Review: "Mr. Mercedes" by Stephen King

In a mega-stakes, high-suspense race against time, three of the most unlikely and winning heroes Stephen King has ever created try to stop a lone killer from blowing up thousands. In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes. In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the perp; and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy. Brady Hartfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with a couple of highly unlikely allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady's next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands. Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.

In the gloomy pre-dawn hours of a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of unemployed hopefuls are lined up for a job fair. Without warning, a merciless driver plows through the crowd in a roaring Mercedes. Eight people are killed; 15 are wounded. The killer escapes into the early-spring fog never to be seen from again. Until now...

Detective Bill Hodges is a battle-hardened and streetwise crime fighter originally assigned to the Mercedes killings. Now retired, Hodges has lost his way in boredom and depression craving the thrills of taking down the region’s most notorious criminals. When a disturbing letter from the Mercedes Killer arrives at his door, Hodges soon finds himself uncontrollably drawn into a cat-n-mouse pursuit with stakes beyond comprehension.

Mr. Mercedes is Stephen’s first “hard-boiled detective tale.” It will transport you into a vibrant and dangerous world filled with gritty characters living on the bleeding edge of reason. Be prepared... - from Goodreads.com

Months ago, I got a little thrill knowing Stephen King was coming out with another book. Even after its release, I still hadn't even read the synopsis of what the story was going to be about, I just got the book and jumped into it as soon as I had a chance. It was like jumping headfirst into the shallow end of the pool, hitting your head, and surfacing all confused. I know King has done some other 'hard-boiled detective' type stories (loved THE COLORADO KID) but it generally is not the type of story I like, and not what I was expecting from King. Yes, I know. I should have read the synopsis.

That being said, I must admit at the time of my reading, that I just was not in the mood for this type of story, and because I was expecting something different, I had to put the book down after reading only about a third of it. Someday I may take it back up and try again, but for now it shall sit there until my reading interest changes (again).

Book Review: "The Corpse-Rat King" by Lee Battersby

Marius dos Hellespont and his apprentice, Gerd, are professional looters of battlefields. When they stumble upon the corpse of the King of Scorby and Gerd is killed, Marius is mistaken for the monarch by one of the dead soldiers, is transported down to the Kingdom of the Dead. The dead need a King--the King is God's representative, and someone needs to remind God where they are. 

Marius is banished to the surface with one message: if he wants to recover his life he must find the dead a King. Which he fully intends to do. Just as soon as he stops running.  - from Amazon.com

I wasn't too sure about this story when I picked it up. The plot sounds interesting enough, and the book took off quickly. Around the middle though, I felt it slowed down, and in my original thought, had started events that I saw no connection to what was happening/needed to happen for the story. Once near the end, it all came together, and though it felt sluggish in the middle, it picked back up. Not a bad read for a slow day.

Book Review: "The Sin Collector" by Jessica Fortunato

"The Sin Collector" follows the life of Liliana, a born Sin Collector. She has spent over 100 years absorbing people's sins so they may rest in peace come death. However when she meets another Collector, one who insists everything she has been taught is a lie, Liliana must make her way from sunny L.A. all the way to the streets of Madrid. Searching for answers to a question we all share. Why are we here? The friends and enemies she makes along the way only seem to blur the line between right and wrong. Can Liliana fight the Castus, an organization whose sole mission is to kill every Collector? Should she trust her head or her heart when the two most important men in her life are fighting alongside her?
Then there is the worst question of all, who will be left when the dust settles? - from Amazon.com

I don't recall how I came across this book, might have been included with a group of books a friend sent. Either way, the story synopsis didn't sound bad so I stated into it. Overall the story was a bit shorter than I expected, as I finished it in just a few hours. I would say it falls in my genre of reading (Fantasy/Urban Fantasy) and I loved the idea behind a type of people that go around collecting sins from regular humans. 

A couple issues I had while reading, and this may include some spoilers. 

One, the main character (female) though is supposed to be aged around 100 years give or take, acted/reacted to everything like a teenager. She is 'locked' in her physical form at age 20, so I don't know if we are supposed to blame this on hormones that are locked in at that age. These quivery/giggly teenager moments she has whenever a guy appears in the story.... sigh. Yet there is one quick sex scene than thankfully doesn't get very descriptive - I don't care to read about sex scenes. 

Second, when do we get to hear more of the collecting of sin? There was one scene where the main character did what she was trained to do, and supposedly had done for over half the years she has been around. Also, no one else was doing it. Yet there are many (guessing since it isn't really talked about) people that live this way.

Third, the ending was a bit disturbing. The guy she has been all googly about throughout the story is now out of the story (I won't say why), and now she gets together with the guy that was her 'trainer', who took her from the orphanage at a young age, and until the age of 20 was like a father figure to her. Whoaaaa.... so not cool. For this alone I would not want to classify this as YA, though it certainly seemed to aimed to that group of readers. 

I noticed that there is a second book available, that per its description, seems to possibility go back and cover more about the actual sin collecting, but it doesn't look like it would be a continuation of this book - more like a prequel. Though my few thoughts on the short-comings here, I may pick up the next book, just because it piques my interest.

Book Review: "Death Match" by Lincoln Child

Lewis and Lindsay Thorpe were the perfect couple: young, attractive, and ideally matched. But the veil of perfection can mask many blemishes. When the Thorpes are found dead in their tasteful Flagstaff living room (having committed double suicide), alarms go off in the towering Manhattan offices of Eden Incorporated, the high-tech matchmaking company whose spectacular success, and legendary secrecy, has inspired awe around the world. The Thorpes, few people knew, were more than the quintessential happy couple – they were Eden’s first perfect match.

A short time later, Christopher Lash, a gifted former FBI forensic psychologist, receives an urgent plea from Eden to perform a quick – and quiet – investigation into the deaths. Lash’s psychological autopsy reveals nothing suspicious, but inadvertently dredges up the memories of a searing personal tragedy he has kept at bay for years.

Not sure what to say about this one. Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston have entertained me well with several books they have written together, but this is a Child solo piece. I have read others that I enjoyed by Child, but this one sort of set me off. In all honesty, I only read the book as it was written by this author, not because of the story synopsis.

At first I was intrigued by the start of the book. Trying to figure out why this big company brought in a "broken down" FBI ex-profiler, and how did the company work matchmaking? As a typical Child novel, the depth of the research for the novel is outstanding. I felt way 'over my head' as the book progressed and the machinations of AI work. In all honesty, I did not even read all of the book. Just short of halfway, I began to lose interest. I couldn't get a feel for how it was going to continue, and by then, felt way out of my depth on the whole computer/AI information, though he sort of 'dumbed down' most of it. I skipped ahead to about the last 10-15% of the book, read a few pages, and skipped to the near end. At that point, I had missed the finale, but through the last chapter and the epilogue, figured out most of what happened, even if it wasn't in exact detail. Then I put it down.

Not one of Child's better novels, but I do give him credit for a decent story line, and definitely a thumbs up for the research. Overall, I think 2.5 stars is good, as I didn't hate it, but it was okay, and the half for his writing style/research.