Steve Hamilton: Exit Strategy

You will need to read the first book in this series The Second Life of Nick Mason in order to understand how Nick has gotten himself in to the predicament he is in. Also the book is a fantastic read and I highly recommend it if you like Thriller and / or Action Adventure type genres.

Steve Hamilton is back with the second book in his Nick Mason series and Mason is determined to find an Exit Strategy:

Nick Mason has one goal: Taking back control of his life but doing this is much more complicated than it seems and first he has to partake in a new missions. Nick's mission is to take on WITSEC, the top-secret federal witness-protection program that has never been compromised, locate the three men who put his boss, Darius Cole, behind bars for life, and kill them but some of them are more deadly than others. But if Cole were to be free will Mason truly be able to live his own life? Mason will risk everything in order to complete his mission, but he hopes if he can complete it, it will lead him to his bigger goals, safety for his family and his life back.

This book is action packed and once it starts it does not take a break. So buckle down the hatches and get ready to read this in one sitting, as there never seemed to be a "good" time to put it down. I'll admit that Mason does seem to move from one insane situation to the next (talk about action imagination from Hamilton) and when Mason does have a bit of a break in the action he  spends his time trying to figure out how to get out from under Darius Cole's thumb and live his own life. Alright all I can say is, WOW I did not see that coming. There are not that many times when a book just throws a curve way out of left field that I do not have some sort of hint that it is coming. Well Bravo Hamilton you made that happen and it was awesome.

I personally like being in Mason's mind and being part of his thought process so it probably does not come as a surprise that I like Mason, and the assassin (and anti-hero) that he has been forced to become. Mason has become so good at planning the assassinations with his analytical and problem solving mind, planning is just his thing, pulling the trigger is something that you never thought he would do especially with some slightly more innocent lives but Mason does have the ability to kill and try to survive. I think that is what I struggle the most with Mason as a character how he goes from a low level thief to assassin. I don't understand how Darius Cole would be able to see that Mason has it in him. But on the same point Mason is trying to protect his family and would do anything in his power to do that even if it means murder. 

One thing I did not like was how Hamilton handle the relationship with Lauren. I felt like there was this big set up with her in the first book only to be let down that Hamilton really just discards her early in this book. I just feel like having the relationship was for nothing and but getting rid of it so soon in this book added nothing to the plot or story. I mean Mason has already lost his family I think he already understands loss loneliness and lack of normalcy in his life. I don't know Lauren just seemed to ground him a bit more and added a bit more human side of him and I was sad for Hamilton to take that away.


Alright this is the second book that I have read by Hamilton and I enjoyed it from beginning to end, he just has a way of grabbing hold of you and never letting go. Now I need to check out his other books and series and hope the third book in this series gets published.

Enjoy!!!

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Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkenan: An Anonymous Girl

Greer and Pekkanen show you what can happen when a test about ethics and morality goes wrong:

Jessica thinks that when she sees an ad on a clients phone looking for women aged 18-32 to be part of a ethics and morality study that it will be easy money, money that she desperately needs. When the questions starts they seem simple enough "Could you tell a lie without feeling guilt?"  but as each question unfolds, Jessica feels like she is truly being tested as the questions are live to her answers. Jessica is being tested. Dr. Shields is looking for the perfect participant for her study. To push the subjects boundaries, see how far Jessica is willing to go for some extra money. And Dr. Shields motive? All in the name of science she assures you...

Alright, this book will having you thinking on more than one level and questions what you would do in each situation, not to mention the whole aspect of morals and ethics we face with each aspect of our lives (the questions of morals and ethics does get a bit tedious at times, and there were points where it kind of felt jammed down my throat, but that just may be how I read and interpreted the book). Lets just say If you like books with manipulation then this book is for you as the farther you get in its about the manipulator manipulating and then the manipulated trying to start her own manipulation (That all make sense?). All that manipulation can make your head spin, but I think that Hendricks and Pekkenan did a good job of not overcomplicating the plot with additional people and kept it mainly between Jessica and Dr. Shields. I think if there was another person that was really focused on it would bee too much. There is a bit of a mystery thrown in to the plot as well, which I appreciated as we needed something else to focus on other than Jessica going through the moral/ethical dilemmas that Dr. Shields puts her through. Plus trying to uncover Dr. Shields motives was interesting.

I really liked that it shifted between the two point of views  Jessica and Dr. Shields and I appreciated that Dr. Shield's chapters were much more clinical in how they were "voiced" as this is who she is as well as her detailing of how Jessica reacted. She was very observant to her behaviour and really took the time to know Jessica, from how she would react to her tells when she was considering what to do. It was always fascinating to see the same event from two different points of view, one that the event was happening to and the other an outsider looking in. Through Dr. Shields you really do see the power that one's mind can have and add a little authority behind it and Wow the things you can make people achieve as well as destroy.

I think my main flaw in the book as I did not feel it was a suspenseful as I wanted it to be and while I was drawn into the story it was not the suspense aspect that kept me reading. This book was much more of  in the domestic genre book category than the thriller/suspenseful one. 

This is the first book that I have read by Hendricks and Pekkenan and I found the story and how they told it different and refreshing. I will be checking out their other works.

Enjoy!!!

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Pamela Kopfler: Better Dead

In the first in a new series and debut novel Pamela Kopfler shows what happens when the dead aren't willing to leave you alone:

Holly is toasting to her new found freedom with the sudden death of her husband. She does not want to sound insensitive but Burl checked out of their marriage many years ago (with a red head) and she would have filed for divorce if he was still alive. But Burl did leave a few things behind, massive debt, spending all their money and now his spirit. Burl was refused at the pearly gates as he has unfinished business in this world and it centers around Holly's B&B business Holly Grove. Holly is about to find out that while she may have known some of Burl's secrets at the end, she did not know all and some of his secrets could get her killed as well.

This was better than I expected it to be. I'm not one that reads cozy mysteries that often (okay I cannot remember the last time I read one), but needed a book for a square in Halloween BINGO so that is how I came across this book. I did not know that this was a debut novel till I looked up information about Kopfler. That right there shows that this book was well written, the story was well thought out, flowed well and had some interesting characters from the ghostly to the living. The mystery was fairly straightforward, but I think that Kopfler did a good job at keeping the reader guessing (I was able to figure out the smugglers) but Kopfler used the B&B to her full advantage with the list of suspects. So for an easy, cute and cozy mystery read I was pretty hooked.

Holly is a true southern woman (or what I picture one to be, I personally do not know any) where everything is about family, history and sticking with your roots. This is why she is so attached to Holly Grove and will do anything to keep it. She makes several reference in to the book about the long line of women in her family who have done everything they can to keep Holly Grove. Holly is determined, stubborn, smart and makes a mean mint julep (see end of book for instructions).

While I knew there was going to be some sort of love interest going into this book (no not between Holly and ghost Burl), I appreciate that Kopfler had the attraction there between Holly and Jake but did not over due it. This allowed Kopfler to plays up the history that Holly and Jake have and with a lot of the unanswered questions between them.

One of the best parts in the book was the interaction between Holly and Burl. It was quite entertaining to have Holly hash everything out with a ghost, especially when she is the only one who can see him. This creates an interesting dynamic when Holly is not by herself. And poor Nelda, Burl takes a real liking to haunting her and her response is pretty epic with all the voodoo she can muster.

This is not my typical read, but I did enjoy the characters that Kopfler created and the story overall. While I may have been able to figure out the mystery, Kopfler reminded me that sometimes you just need an easy read to change things up from the dark and gritty stories I prefer and with that i'll be looking for more books by Kopfler.

Enjoy!!!

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Victoria Schwab: City of Ghosts

In the first in a new series Victoria Schwab takes the readers past the Veil and into the City of Ghosts:


Cassidy Blake's parents have a different job, they are The Inspectors a ghost-hunting team, who writes books about some of the most haunted places in the World. But Cass is the one that really can see ghosts, in fact her best and only friend is Jacob. He was the one that saved her from a terrible drowning accident and he has been with her since. When The Inspectors head to Edinburgh, which is drenched in history, Cass finds herself surrounded by ghosts and struggling to control entering into the Veil. When Cass meets Lara she realizes there is more to her power than just entering the Veil, she has a purpose. Lara warns Cass that ghosts can be dangerous too and to watch out for the sinister Red Raven who has been haunting the Veil around Edinburgh. She is looking to cross over to the human world at any cost.  


This is the first book that I have read by Schwab and it will not be the last. I really enjoyed the story, having a young but still relatable main character (And I write that as an adult), also she is not yet boy crazy so that really helps as well. The book is not too long and moves at a fairly fast pace, I was wondering where Schwab was going to take the book as I think at the beginning there is no clear direction but overall I'm satisfied with where Schwab took Cassidy and Jacob. Schwab really plays up  how ironic it is that Cassidy's parents are ghost hunters and not being able to see ghosts and Cassidy who has that ability to see them keeps that information from them.

Although Cassidy is 12 years old in this book, I never felt like I was reading about a 12 year old. Yes, she talks about comics with her ghost "sidekick" Jacob but a lot of her thought processes fell more adult. Really I feel like Jacob acts more like a preteen that Cassidy ever does in the book, though I'm just guessing about Jacob's age as we do not know much about him other than his appearance. I hope in the future we get more of Jacob's backstory.

The Veil was an interesting concept in which ghosts, minus Jacob, live in our world but behind the veil that is why regular people are unable to see them. What I thought was a bit weird of the Veil was that it seems that most of the ghosts were from the 1800 other than one child ghost that Cassidy references. Just seemed a bit strange to me. Also I'm not sure hoe her parents have not noticed when Cassidy slips into the Veil only to reappear across town. I mean her parents at times seem a bit absentminded but not that much.


I really enjoyed this book, it was an easy read, simple story (it is a middle grade book) with some darker elements (I mean it deals with ghosts and death so those kind of had to be in there but no so much that it would scare a middle grade reader). It was fun to get to know Cassidy and see her find more purpose with her powers and I feel like the tour da City of Ghosts will be interesting to read about in the future.


Enjoy!!!

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Stacia Kane: Unholy Magic

You will need to read the first book in this series Unholy Ghosts in order to understand Chess as a character, her relationships as well as the Church's rule in this world or BT (before truth).


Chess Putnam finds herself helping out the Black squad when she is poisoned, almost dies and that doesn't even count the murderous ghost wanting to kill her. Chess' next assignment should be a straightforward debunking of a celebrity's home but Chess' secret life threatens to get in the way. Prostitutes being killed in an extremely gruesome way in Downside and it's hurting more than Bump's profits. Someone is dealing in sex and the supernatural but that is just another day in Downside until murder is thrown in. It's not a turf war, even enemies are willing to work together to find who is responsible and all that responsibility is about to fall on to Chess.


Alright it was quite a few years ago that I read the first book in this series. I do not know why I did not pick up this book sooner. I re-read the review I wrote at the time and it was glowing, so really not sure, so with fresh eyes and opinions I started this series again and extremely happy that I did. This book was awesome. It had everything I wanted in an Urban Fantasy book; dark, gritty, magic, ghosts, a post apocalyptic feel to it and a great female lead who is not your norm. It had me glued to my seat to say the least.


Chess is a mess (sorry for the rhyme but she truly is). She is a drug addict that is mixed up with gangs, pimps and enforcers. She tries to hide all of this from the Church her employer and her "friends" at the church, as all these things will get her fired. On top of that to help pay her debts to Bump (the pimp) she uses her Church trained magic to help out with problems that are occurring in Downside. Chess is really hard on herself and most of this has to do with her childhood or lack there of. We get snippets of what Chess endured as a child and none of it was good until she was shown to have some talent for magic and could study at the Church. The church is her whole life but she risks it every day to keep her past demons at bay with her drug use.


I really appreciate that Kane does not shy away from Chess' drug use; her reasons for taking drugs, how often she gets high, all her money goes to it, her constant thought of how long she has before she comes down and what withdrawal symptoms that Chess experiences. All of these factors are not glossed over or downplayed in this book and I applaud Kane for not romanticizing Chess' drug use. Using the drugs is part of who Chess is in this series and while I hope she gets some help as I have grown attached to her as a character I do not think that she will.


I like that Kane has Chess focus on two different cases at once, as it forces Chess to choose sometimes between her habit and her work and also in both books I have read so far the cases are interesting. The Church case is a debunking one in which a celebrity claims to have a haunted house. While the case may have been a bit more straightforward and I was able to figure most of it out, it was still interesting (debunking in general is really interesting). The extremely interesting case is the one of the dead prostitutes that are occurring in downside, this also brings Lex and Terrible in close proximity of each other which Chess is trying to avoid at all costs. I was not able to figure out what was occurring in this case and lets say that Kane gets pretty creative with ghosts and magic for this one.


Kane has done a great job of re-piquing my interest with this series (like I said it was awhile ago when I read the first) and I find this book not only creative and refreshing as it combines ghosts and magic (I don't read enough ghosts books I think). I'm excited to pick up the next book in this series and one thing about waiting to so long to come back to this series is I don't have to wait :)


Enjoy!!!

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