"Any Other Name" by Craig Johnson

Sheriff Walt Longmire is sinking into a high-plains winter discontent when his former boss, Lucian Connally, asks him to take on a mercy case outside his jurisdiction. Detective Gerald Holman of neighboring Campbell County is dead, and Lucian wants to know what drove his old friend, a by-the-book lawman with a wife and daughter, to take his own life. With the clock ticking on the birth of Walt’s first grandchild in Philadelphia, he enlists the help of undersheriff Vic Moretti, Henry Standing Bear, and Gillette policeman Corbin Dougherty and, looking for answers, reopens Holman’s last case.

Before his mysterious death, Detective Holman was elbow-deep in a cold case involving three local women who’d gone missing with nothing to connect the disappearances—or so it seemed. The detective’s family and the Campbell County sheriff’s office beg Walt to drop the case. An open-and-shut suicide they say. But there’s a blood trail too hot to ignore, and it’s leading Walt in circles: from a casino in Deadwood, to a mysterious lodge in the snowy Black Hills of South Dakota, to a band of international hit men, to a shady strip club, and back again to the Campbell County sheriff’s office. Digging deeper, Walt will uncover a secret so dark it threatens to claim other lives before the sheriff can serve justice—Wyoming style. - from Amazon.com

This is book ten in the Walt Longmire series, that I fell in love with due to the television show (which is now in season three).  

This story brings Walt in helping out his friend, and former sheriff, Lucian Connally, on a case in a nearby county. Being tenacious as Walt is, he is swept up into the cause of a suicide of an officer, and his family, as he searches for the reason a "solid" officer would kill himself in such a mysterious way (for that officer). Also going on is Walt's daughter Cady, who is in Philidelphia, and is having a baby that she is demanding Walt be there for the birth of. Nothing like some pressure to get the case solved.

Brief appearances by Vic Morelli and Henry Standing-Bear help fill in part of the story, but most of it seems to be Walt following the trail as it leads into the lives and happenstances of three missing women. 

I enjoyed the previous novels quite a bit, but felt a bit let-down on this one. It read more like a possible script for a tv show, than the writing style Johnson showed in his other Longmire stories. Still a decent read, but felt it was a bit more forced to have some more internal struggle in Walt, though he has always been a pitbull when on a case, and always sought true justice for a crime. I hope there will be more stories of Longmire, as I would like to see more develop between him and Vic, and more on Henry.

"Shadow Ops: Control Point" by Myke Cole

Army Officer. Fugitive. Sorcerer.

Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents. Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set everything they touch ablaze.
Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. A lieutenant attached to the military's Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power, transforming him overnight from government agent to public enemy number one.

The SOC knows how to handle this kind of situation: hunt him down--and take him out. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he's ever known, and that his life isn't the only thing he's fighting for. - from Amazon.com

This book was a bit of a surprise to me. I had originally picked it up mainly because I saw the author 'hung out' with several authors I had read and enjoyed, on social media. I figured he must write similar stories. I was a bit wrong, but in a totally good way!

This is the first of at least three books by Cole, that tell a story about an alternate Earth. One where we are in a modern day setting, that has had a connection to an alternate dimension that contains "magic". Somehow this magic shows up as abilities in humans to control different things such as elementals (fire, water, air, etc), manipulate the dead, create portals, etc. In an attempt to control people with these 'Latent" powers, the U.S. creates a special army, called the SOC, to enforce laws made regarding the use of magic, etc. I don't want to spend much time breaking that all done.

In book one, we find Oscar Britton, who is in the Army with no magical skill, on a joint mission with the SOC to take down a couple teens that had manifested powers and were on a rampage. Immediately following the take-down, Britton shows a latency for creating portals, a rare form of magic in humans. Portals that open into this alternate shadow world. The SOC apprehend a Britton, while he is trying to flee.

Unknown to the regular world, the SOC have created a Forward Operating Base in this shadow world, where they train those new to this magic, and basically indoctrinate them into the SOC. The story follows Britton as he goes here, his personal battles about what is right/wrong not only with what he believes, but what the SOC is doing, and also follows his building of relationships with others at the FOB, and the indignant peoples, which are described as similar to goblins in look. 

Near the end of the book, the action comes to a head as Britton "escapes" the SOC FOB in the shadow world.

I don't want to share too much of the story, as you will enjoy the writing as I did. I am not into military-type fantasy novels as a rule, but this one just grabbed me up and took me for a ride. The writing was more simplistic and able to be understood (in regards to military terms/meanings/operations/rank) that I actually felt it was pretty much description in the story. Characters seemed to be well-built, though a bit predictable in how they would react, just not as to how. More military than fantasy? Nope! definitely a good mix of both.

Book Review: "The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction Vol. 2"

The magazine Fantasy & Science Fiction continues to showcase some of the most famous authors writing in any genre. Now drawing upon F&SF’s impressive history of classic and contemporary tales, this extraordinary companion anthology revisits and expands upon sixty-five years’ worth of top-notch fiction. These broad-ranging, award-winning tales appeal to readers of genre fiction and beyond, exploring alternate history, time travel, urban fantasy, cyberpunk, modern myth, horror, interstellar travel, epic fantasy, mystery, space opera, and much more. - excerpt from Netgalley.com

A good collection of short stories from the magazine Fantasy & Science Fiction featuring a few from authors I have heard of before, and many I had not. As typical in any collection of shorts, there were stories I did not care for, and a few that I liked. Overall it was a nice collection through many years of publication that the magazine had been around.

Book Review: "Souls of the Damned" by E.S. Moore

Kat Redding would love to take a break from the gruesome, dangerous work of hunting down rogue vampires and werewolves, battling for innocent lives. But there's no peace for Lady Death. Until Kat's young charge, Sienna, appears on her doorstep, escaped from the shadow-paradise of Delai. Sienna is weak, confused, desperate--human in the utmost. If Kat is going to have any hope of breaking the hold of Delai, she'll have to infiltrate the walls around the false sanctuary. And the only way she can do that is to trade in her battle-hardened, bloodthirsty vampire's body--for Sienna's human form.

With no weapons but her wits, Kat has to trust a demon, defeat an angel, and wrestle with her own rebel soul--because with all the fear and death she's conquered, no one has ever offered her another day under a warm yellow sun. . . - from Amazon.com

I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher, Kensington Books, through NetGalley, for a review.

This is the fifth book in the Kat Redding series, and takes off pretty much right after book four. By now hopefully you have read the others and are aware that Kat is a vampire that hunts other vampires, and weres. She has a human room mate that summons a demon, has feelings for a werewolf leader, is oath-bound to another werewolf that wants her, and has so many "fingers in the pot" stuff going on, it makes her more human and likable.

Great continuation of the story line. I like how this one closes a few doors on some things that had happened before, and yet, leaves us hanging for another book to find out what happens next. The 'Supes' (vamps, weres, etc) are described realistically. Though I am not for the romance aspect in many of the paranormal/urban fantasy genres, the little love interests going on through this series is pretty dent, with out going overboard, jumping into some sex scene every page turn.

Time Waits For No One

I have been neglecting getting my crappy reviews up on here of late. Between work and family life, I have barely time enough to get some reading done, but I hope to have some of that fixed in a short while. Over the next few days I will try to get caught up.

Some good news ... I joined in a group for advance reading copies of some of Joseph Nassise's work! Also, several books by authors I enjoy have been released recently, and I hope to get started on them as well!

Thanks for stopping by for my badly worded opinions.

Book Review: "The Valhalla Prophecy" by Andy McDermott

MYSTERIOUS RUNE STONES.
AN ANCIENT VIKING MYTH.
AND A PROPHECY OF LIFE OR DEATH.
 
In a Stockholm museum, thieves steal an enormous Norse rune stone, but not before killing a security guard. When Nina Wilde, head of the International Heritage Agency (IHA), and her husband and ex-mercenary Eddie Chase arrive to investigate, they are told a chilling story: A scholar has discovered that the stone may be one of two keys to finding the mythological site of Valhalla, where the Vikings predicted the world’s final battle would begin. The second lies at the bottom of a Norwegian lake. But when Nina and Eddie race to the scene, they’re hit with a shocking surprise.
 
Covert agents from around the world are drawn into a lethal game, including a ruthless mole in the IHA. Then a disturbing secret surfaces from Eddie’s past, involving a mission in Vietnam and a woman he tried to save. Suddenly suspicious of her own husband, Nina cannot afford to stop the perilous search for the artifact. For somewhere in a remote wilderness, two forces are about to converge: one that could save the world. . . . and one that could destroy it.- from Amazon.com

I received an ARC from Random House Publishing Group - Bantam Dell through Netgalley.com for free in exchange for a review.

I don't recall reading any of McDermott's previous novels in this series of Nina and Eddie Chase. I believe this is approximately book nine in the series, but even so, reading it without knowing previous escapades, it read well. This is definitely a thriller/action/adventure novel that I compare to the Boyd Morrison's Tyler Locke series. Plenty of snarkiness in extreme tense situations, led into with a bit of history as Nina Chase is an archaeologist.  I enjoyed the way McDermott put together some mythological Norse tales, and bring it to a modern day story.

Book Review: "Fool's Assassin" by Robin Hobb

Nearly twenty years ago, Robin Hobb burst upon the fantasy scene with the first of her acclaimed Farseer novels, Assassin’s Apprentice, which introduced the characters of FitzChivalry Farseer and his uncanny friend the Fool. A watershed moment in modern fantasy, this novel—and those that followed—broke exciting new ground in a beloved genre. Together with George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb helped pave the way for such talented new voices as Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson, and Naomi Novik.

Over the years, Hobb’s imagination has soared throughout the mythic lands of the Six Duchies in such bestselling series as the Liveship Traders Trilogy and the Rain Wilds Chronicles. But no matter how far she roamed, her heart always remained with Fitz. And now, at last, she has come home, with an astonishing new novel that opens a dark and gripping chapter in the Farseer saga.

FitzChivalry—royal bastard and former king’s assassin—has left his life of intrigue behind. As far as the rest of the world knows, FitzChivalry Farseer is dead and buried. Masquerading as Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is now married to his childhood sweetheart, Molly, and leading the quiet life of a country squire.

Though Fitz is haunted by the disappearance of the Fool, who did so much to shape Fitz into the man he has become, such private hurts are put aside in the business of daily life, at least until the appearance of menacing, pale-skinned strangers casts a sinister shadow over Fitz’s past . . . and his future.

Now, to protect his new life, the former assassin must once again take up his old one. . . .
 - from Amazon.com

I received an uncorrected proof of this book from the publisher, Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey Spectra, in exchange for a review.

The return to the world of the Fool and Fitz was not to happen, I thought those many years ago when I finished the series. This brings back their return, in about the same amount of time as it feels like it has been in the real world for me. Now Fitz is married, and the unexpected birth of a daughter, though long past the child-bearing years of his wife, brings on a new danger. Most of the book seemed to be self contemplation for Fitz, sharing guilt he holds for things done in the past, and then speculations and fears for the future in regards to his daughter, or whatever event is taking precedence at that moment. The story does evolve eventually, and leaves me guessing as to what will happen in future tales (because there will be, I hope).