Review: The Black Dagger Brotherhood

The Black Dagger Brotherhood: An Insider's Guide by J.R. Ward

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Here's the thing: there are people who read books, and there are people who are "readers." People who read enjoy books. Readers take that to an almost insane degree. They don't just read books, they immerse themselves in them. And, to the extent that they have a "favorite" book or author, they can get lost for days....or longer. Readers read favorites over and over (and over) again. It isn't so much about the words that are put on the page, although those can be very good. It is more about how you feel when you read that book or that author. People who read roll their eyes when I mention this. Readers understand completely.



To that end, this is a book for readers. If you're a casual fan of J.R. Ward, this probably isn't the book for you. Yes, there is new material in it, but you're not going to buy this book just for the original short at the beginning. The majority of this book consists of a lot of insider baseball, which is great if you're a major league fan. I started in the middle, skipped around things I'd already seen on the website, and then went back and read Father Mine the original short story. Finally, I read the preview of the upcoming book about Rehvenge. May can't get here fast enough!



I recommend the short story to everyone who is even remotely interested in the Brotherhood and JR Ward. It is really very good. If you only have a passing curiosity about the rest, check this out from the library. But, if you're a big fan, you won't need me to tell you to buy this book. In fact, you probably already have it!


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Good Cover!

Did anyone watch the show Vega$ back in the late 70s and early 80s? This cover is kind of a throwback to that. At least, that is what it looks like to me. And how about that? E. Duke Vincent worked on that show.

Good Cover!

I love this cover. The drawing is fantastic, the colors are wonderful, and it looks like fun!

Review: Guardians of the West

Guardians of the West by David Eddings

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really loved this series when it first appeared almost 21(!!!) years ago. Damn, I'm old.



ANYWAY, listening to it is a completely different experience. I haven't revistied this series as often as I have re-read The Belgariad, so a lot of this book has been forgotten over time. As I listen to it, however, I struggle with the urge to skip around. If I had the book in front of me, I definitely would be doing that. As I'm listening, I'm forced to hear every word of the book. This isn't, necessarily, a good thing.



Cameron Beirle is a good reader. He keeps the voices the same from book to book and from Belgariad to Mallorean. He's consistent. The writing is a bit.....I won't say pedestrian, but it is a bit simple. It isn't a bad thing exactly, but hearing it makes it seem a lot less complex. When you're reading this series, it is deftly plotted, and the characters are sharply drawn. Your imagination supplies the rest, which makes reading these books almost as magical as the contents. Listening, however, lays bare all of the faults of the books. There are great passages of.....description. Maybe it is because I'm reading these again, but I don't really need to hear all of that. I'm not sure this series holds up as well as the original Belgariad did. Although, here I am, listening to it 21 years later.


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Review: Out of Control

Out of Control by Suzanne Brockmann

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reading this book, out of order, may have saved my life! I'm not sure I would have survived it otherwise. If you're a Sam/Alyssa fan, and you read this book in real time, you have my utmost admiration. You're a tougher person than I am.



The Savannah/Karmody storyline was awesome and I'm glad I went back and read this entry in the series. It explains a lot, and you can see Brockmann's progression as an author. Not only are her storylines layered, but her characters are really, REALLY outstanding. Authors in any genre, who are interested in making characters that are multi-layered and memorable, would really learn a thing or two from her books. She doesn't have shallow characters. Even the characters that are SUPPOSED to be shallow have an underlying depths.



Anyway, this book really had three *main* storylines, two of which come back in later books. In addition to that, it has one or two *sub* stories that also find their way into other books. If you think Brockmann is simply a romance author without real writing chops, or if you think romance is a genre that can't sustain detailed, nuanced stories and/or depth, you are seriously mistaken.



And this wasn't even her BEST of the series.


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Review: Guns will keep us together

Guns Will Keep Us Together by Leslie Langtry

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
This writer lives in the Quad Cities. That is my old neighborhood and I'm glad I didn't know that until after I finished this book!



Okay, the GOOD thing about this book is that the premise of it is wonderful. Really, it is. A family of assassins, from a tradition that is some 2000+ years old, is a great idea. In the hands of a good writer, this could have been fantastic. It could have been rich and layered and....good. Instead, it is campy, and silly and ridiculous. The names of everyone is the family is a place name, to the extreme that you have characters named Delaware and whatever else? Come on. The jokes aren't funny. The dialogue is clumsy and heavy handed. The relationship between the characters doesn't exist. They talk at each other, like cardboard, instead of to each other, like people. Langtry has good ideas. The plot of this book, a family enterprise that needs to spice up its marketing, is a great jumping off point. The problem is that Langtry needs more practice taking her good ideas and turning them into good books. She has the first part down: she has good ideas for plots and for characters. She just has to turn them from silly caricatures into people. If she does that, she'll be much, MUCH, better.


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Review: One Bullet Away

One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer by Nathaniel C. Fick

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
"Memoirs" have taken a bad rap in the world of publishing lately. So much so that you have to wonder if you can believe anything that anyone says is a "true story." This is why I was heartened to see the semi disclaimer in Fick's book that he tried his best to make it as accurate as possible, but if something is wrong, it wasn't intentional truthiness to blame.



The book itself is wonderful. The topic isn't wonderful, of course, but the descriptions and the narrative is very good. He doesn't go easy on himself either, which is refreshing. There is great detail on the things people most want to know. And, though you know, of course, that Filk holds some things back, you get a very full picture of what life was like for him, and his Marines, going through all the phases of this story.



If you're interested in military memoirs, I recommend it. If you're looking for a print version of Full Metal Jacket, you might want to take a pass.


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Review: Mr. Fix-It

Mr. Fix-It by Crystal Hubbard

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I'm sorry to give this book three stars. I really liked the characters in it. I LOVED both of the main characters and I thought Hubbard did a good job of making them more than just 2 dimensional cardboard cutouts. I liked the best friend of each, as well, but they were far from fully developed. It was the plot that was lacking. And, by lacking, I mean it was seriously underdeveloped. It took too many leaps. There is no way that I believe the ending from everything we've read in the beginning. And, even though you (the audience) knew that Carter was more than "just the fix it guy", I still didn't buy it. I will give Hubbard credit for making him unconventionally rich instead of old money. That was a new spin on and old idea. Good for her. Other than that, though, there wasn't much to the plot.


But, even with all of those holes, the characters almost make up for it. If she would have tweaked just one or two things (shoring up the secondary characters, making a more plausible ending, showing a little more background, maybe through flashbacks or what have you) then this would have been a 4 star review. The characters were that good. And Hubbard's use of humor in places were pretty good too.


Lastly, I have to say that it was nice to have a book about an interracial romance that wasn't all "I'm black, you're not black, it'll never work. What about the children. Blah blah blah." It never went down that road, and for that I'm more grateful than you know. Hubbard has the makings of a good author.


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Bad Cover

WTF?

Bad Cover

Although bad may not be a strong enough term!





The roses and the violin couldn't be any more tragically ordinary. The mix of fonts on the cover couldn't be any more tragically schizophrenic.



But the worst part of this cover? Those. Ears.



WHAT?! Besides the fact that the face looks to be completely drugged out, those ears are ridiculous.



I would say that you could do better, Cerridwen, but I'm not sure it's the truth. Bad. Touch.

Bad Cover

Wow. If this book isn't about a ghost in your wallpaper, or your sidewalk, I can't see how this book cover is even close.


There is nothing, nothing, here that makes me want to pick this up.

And OF COURSE we judge books by their covers. Don't be ridic.

Review: Into the Fire

Into the Fire by Suzanne Brockmann

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Everything was fantastic about this book......except the main storyline. Maybe I didn't get enough Murphy when I was into the old books, but I just didn't care about these two. No, I take that back. It wasn't Murph I didn't care about, it was Hannah. I didn't buy her story. I love the diversity that is included in these books, and I love how it makes it seem like the real world, and not some fantasy world where everyone is the same. But, I just didn't buy that whole deaf storyline. It didn't ring (pardon the pun) true for me. And, because I didn't believe that, I didn't believe in her. I wish I could have, but I just didn't.



There were a couple times where I severely cursed Brockmann while I read this book, and that means I totally bought everything else she was peddling. I may never forgive her for the turn the Izzy storyline has taken and I can only imagine the anguish the Alyssa/Sam fans must have felt when they had to wait for the next book to see what would happen. The biggest problem is that I like the third party, but I definitely wanted an Izzy/Tracy happy happy, and that just didn't happen.



There were also times when I thought I was going to choke to death (Nash.....Decker.....) and there were even times I cheered. (Dave). And Lopez? Definitely time for the peacemaker to get a piece.



A person who jumps in at this point in the series might be a little bit confused, but I think this is a book where a person could start. It would definitely make you want to go back and read other books in the series. I would highly rec this to people who hadn't read Brockmann before.


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Review: All Through the Night

All Through the Night: A Troubleshooter Christmas by Suzanne Brockmann

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was a love letter from Brockmann to her fans. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, if you're one of the fans, it was absolutely great. The story was good, longtime followers of the series enjoyed the Jules/Robin wedding, there were appearances by lots of old friends. It was that part that I actually disliked the most.



I'm all for catching up with people, but it seemed like she threw some of them in just so they could have a mention. There was no place for them and the connections were shaky at best. The "suspense" part of this romantic suspense book was pretty good. I liked the Dolphina/Will storyline and almost wish it would have been given its own book instead of lumped in with this one.



It certainly didn't compare to some of her other books, but it was nice for what it was. For a "Christmas" story, though, there was precious little Christmas in it.


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Review: Force of Nature

Force of Nature by Suzanne Brockmann

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
There were parts of this book that I really liked. There were parts of this book that I wish I could have fast forwarded through, except I was afraid I'd miss something. So, I read them. And, guess what? I wouldn't have missed anything.



I liked Ric from his early appearances, but I'm not sure he was enough to sustain his own book. That's just my opinion. Brockmann obviously thought otherwise. I just wasn't impressed with him. I found his story a little bit boring, and this book was saved, for me, by Jules and Robin. And, of course, a little Cosmo thrown in for good measure. And Max. I wouldn't rec this book to anyone who wasn't already a devout follower of the series.


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Review: Into the Storm

Into the Storm by Suzanne Brockmann

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I read the blurb on the inside flap of this one, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I wasn't enthused, like I was for so many of Brockmann's other books in the series. Turns out, though, that you can't judge a book by its cover OR its blurb. Not only did I like this one, I LOVED it.



The characters were fantastic, and it reminded me of an earlier Brockmann where she sows the seeds for others all the while carrying a suspense plot and a romance between the main characters.



How DOES she do it? I have no clue. In a series this long, there are bound to be some hits and misses. This one is definitely a hit. From the top of the character food chain, to the secretary that everyone hates to love, every character is spot on and makes you crave to learn more about them. You can't go wrong with this entry in the Troubleshooters series.


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When Hannah Lapp reluctantly returns to the Old Order Amish community that she grew up in in order to help her sister, she is torn between her new life and love in the outside world and life in the community with her first love.





I LOVED this movie with Harrison Ford!

oh wait.........

Good Cover!

For any number of reasons!

Review: Master of Surrender

Master of Surrender by Karin Tabke

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
You know, the whole time I was reading this, it seemed like I had read this book before. Everything seemed exactly as I remembered from some other book: invaders come, the leader wants the scared yet brash and sassy mistress of the keep (or castle, or manor, etc.) She swears her husband/brother/father/uncle will return and rescue them even though the hero tells her (repeatedly) that said male relative is dead. I mean, the entire premise isn't anything new.



There were a few twists in the book, well, maybe twist is the wrong word. There were characters that may not have been in other novels that follow the same plot. Honestly, I found the whole thing very much deja vu all over again. There was nothing here that made the book stand out, yet it wasn't horrible. It's like eating at a favorite restaurant: you love it so you still eat there, but it becomes boring after awhile. That's what this book was. If you're a fan of this sort of plot, you probably won't be disappointed.



If you're not, there isn't anything here to make you a fan.






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Bad Cover

This one could be about anything. Strangely enough, it is about a woman who owns a male strip club.

Women who own their own strip clubs deserve better window dressing for their novels.

Good Cover!

I'm not familiar with Canavan's Black Magician trilogy, but this is, apparently, a prequel.

This cover makes me want to get familiar with it. It strikes just the right mood between creepy and fascinating.......if you're a fan of the fantasy genre.

If you're not a fan, you're probably wondering what the ^$%#%@ I'm going on about. Nevermind, you.