Jess Haines: Hunted by the Others

In her debut novel Jess Haines introduces readers to Private Investigator who lives in a world with vampires and werewolves but she is very afraid of, but sometimes you have to face your fears in order to pay the bills.

Shiarra Waynest works as a private detective for the her own company H&W Investigations and so far she has been able to stay away from the work that would have been provided by the paranormal community because although they have been accepted by society (well minus the White Hats) Shiarra is terrified of the paranormal especially their ability to look human most of the time. However, Shiarra was unaware that the business was failing and her best friend and business partner had been footing the bill for the extra expenses for awhile now. When Shiarra is approached by a high-level mage to recover an ancient artifact that is owned by one of the cities most well known vampires Alec Royce, she tries to put all her fears behind her in order to help out the business, which is easier said than done. Shiarra finds herself as the middle point for the war between different paranormal groups as well as the White Hats she does not know what to do. The White Hats and all the paranormal groups are all trying to get a hold of the same artifact in order to increase their power, and will stop at nothing to get it. Shiarra realizes that she was right to fear the paranormal and the unknown world around her.

Overall I found this book was just okay. I think that it would be a good book for someone to start out with if they wanted to try out the paranormal genre. There are some very similar ideas within this book and Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series and I would classify this book as Anita Blake light, as I found it lacked the dark and gritty aspects of the earlier Anita Blake series. Therefore, I would classify this book as Urban Fantasy Light.

I found the main character Shairra a little bit too whinny for my taste, this is not to say that I did not like that she was afraid of the Others, I think that was interesting and different, what I did not like was the constant whinnying ("Why do I have to do this?", "Why do I have to do that?"), just not how I wanted to the main character to be like. I would have been okay if she was just afraid but this went beyond that. Shairra was the one that took the job for the Others (by one of the top Mages in the Circle nonetheless) and when everything blows up and you are fighting for your own and your friend's lives, there is no doubt that a little complaining would have been okay, but it was a constant aspect with her. She should have been doing something about it, trying to figure a way out of the mess. I think that Shairra was the weakest aspect in this book for me. This is not to say I wanted her to be the Kickass, know it all heroine that are very popular these day, just a touch more confident and less whiny would have been nice, like when she had the belt on (I really like the hunter behind the belt). However, I will say that Shairra was able to eventually muster up the courage to do something but I wonder if it was her acting or the belt ( I loved the belt, I think I just really want one for myself)

Additionally, I could have done without the Werewolf - Vampire - Human love triangle that seems to be appearing, and left me wondering have I read this before, oh wait I have, in Hamilton’s series. There was just a lack of overall originality within this series and when a subject like the paranormal genre becomes over saturated your need to do something different in order to stand out, and I felt like Haines was not able to achieve this.  I think my favorite part of the book was the vampire hunter belt, which was really the only new aspect in the book. The belt was very cool, and interesting and I look forward knowing more about the hunter who owned it previously. However, when my favorite part of a book is a belt/weapon it says something about the rest of the novel, I don’t know if the belt is enough to bring me back.

I think that those who are looking to get into the paranormal genre may want to start here, however, for me who has been reading in this genre for years now there was nothing really new within this novel that makes me want to stand up and shout out about it. It is a pretty light easy read, that I may visit again when I need a break from something that is dark and gritty but even then I'm not sure if I will remember to pick up the next book in this series.

Cheers!!!!

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Linwood Barclay: Fear the Worst

Linwood Barclay is an author known for his thrillers, and here Barclay delivers the mystery of a missing girl who no one seems to be able to explain why she is gone.

Tim is just an average guy, he sells Hondas during the day and takes care of his teenage daughter Sydney at night and he kind of gets along with his ex-wife’s boyfriend and his son Evan (even though he does not like the idea of Sydney and Evan living under the same roof). Things are peaceful and getting back to normal after the divorce. Then one day Sydney vanishes into thin air, there is nothing to say that she was abducted or just decided to run away, the trail is cold. Tim refuses to believe that Sydney would just disappear and spends most of his days and nights searching for his daughter, unaware that there is something more going on in his town, events and practices that people will kill to make sure they never comes to light.

I had really high expectations for this author, and maybe it is part of the hype that has surrounded him or even on the cover where it stated that Barclay was Canada’s best thriller author but I personally think that Barclay did not deliver as well as I wanted him to. The book is well written and has a good flow, despite the fact that I found there were points within the book that were slow. Approximately the first half of this book is very slow and it took about 250 pages for things to get interesting and have the plot begin to move along and the last 100 pages get really really interesting as everything comes to light. However, due to the fact that it took 250 pages to get me invested in this book I could see some readers putting the book down.

I will say that Barclay knows how to do mystery, I am not too sure about the thriller part (I never felt like I was on the edge of my seat while reading this book), but mystery is where Barclay excelled in this book. I was really intrigued about why Sydney was missing and whether it was on her own accord or if she was abducted. I think that Barclay does a good job of keeping the reader guessing as to what clue will be uncovered next in Tim's search for Sydney. However, a few of the clues or leads that were a bit predictable or went in the direction I thought they would and you have to wait for Tim to catch up. Nonetheless, Barclay did a good job of having Tim discover false or misleading information that kept Tim and reader guessing. Additionally, as you continue to read you realize that there is more than one mystery that is unfolding with the information that Tim is able to obtain and you have no idea how everything is going to intersect till the end.

Tim overall was an interesting character. You can feel his struggle to keep going on his search for Sydney even when there are no clues for him to follow. The constant midnight drives just searching for her, but knowing that he has to get up to work the next day to keep paying the bills so that Sydney will have a home to come back to. I think the best way to describe Tim is a dog with a bone; you just cannot take that type of drive away from a person who is willing to keep searching no matter what. Tim also develops new characteristics throughout the book and does things that he would question in any other circumstance, but this is about finding his daughter and he will do anything to achieve that. I think how Tim develops and changes throughout the book were realistic and part of his own personal survival instinct.

I thought this book was going to be a thriller, but I found for the most part it lacked the thrills I wanted. However, Barclay knows how to write a mystery novel, so I am not quite ready to write this book off yet. I think I will check out another Barclay book to see if it has more of the thriller feel to it. Let me know if there are any that you would recommend.

Enjoy!!!

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Ted Dekker: Boneman's Daughters

 Ted Dekker is a well known author in the Thriller genre, however, this is my first read of one of his books. He does not disappoint with his portrayal of the BoneMan who is obsessed with finding the perfect daughter.

Is there any lengths that you would not go to save your daughter? Even if it meant that you had commit murder yourself? These are the questions that army intelligence officer Ryan Evans has to ask himself. Ryan has just returned from his latest tour, but for traumatic reason, he was kidnapped tortured both physically and mentally and all he can think of is getting home to his wife and daughter. But Ryan's choices over the years to take tour after tour has estranged both his wife and daughter and he soon realizes that he has never been the perfect father, which is exactly what the BoneMan is looking for. In the middle of the night the BoneMan kidnaps Ryan's daughter for himself, and Ryan will do everything to keep Bethany alive. However, as the evidence unfolds the FBI and political figures become convinced that Ryan is the BoneMan. Ryan is on the run from the authorities and he is running out of time to save his daughter.

This is the first book that I have read by Dekker and I have wanted to read this particular book for a long time (I think since the first time I saw the cover) and it was lost in my shelf for too long. This book did not start out how I thought it would, I was picturing the typical picturesque family which is more typical for these types of novels, but this book was in no way typical. I liked that Dekker chose a different type of family setting that I think set the stage better because it felt like Ryan truly had more to loose than his daughter, his sanity was also in question as he frantically searched for her and played the BoneMan's game. As you near the end of the book, you really do not know how it was going to end and I really appreciated that Dekker kept the dark feeling and aspects throughout and was willing to take it to the very end.

BoneMan was a very interesting character, that I do not think that anyone could completely understand; however, for me this was not a draw back because how can anyone truly understand a psychopathic mind. This book does has chapters from BoneMan's point of view, therefore, those who do not like novels that have this aspect will want to avoid this novel for that reason. BoneMan's technique is terrifying, original, and cringe worthy every time I think about it. Just thinking of the agony one would have to be in makes your muscle tighten. I really appreciate Dekker's originality with BoneMan as there can be some redundancy in serial killer books. Additionally, you know who the BoneMan is before everyone else in the novel but I did not find that this took away from novel, as Ryan was not pervy to the information that was developed or found out by the investigators. I personally like novels that take the time to develop the killer into an actual character than just a figure in the background, this does not always mean I want to know the identity of the killer, just read from their point of view.

I did not know that Dekker was considered a Christian writer while reading this book, I did not find out after till I was reading some reviews of his other books. Dekker does use some passages from the Bible in the book that act as clues, but this can be a common aspect in serial killer books. I did not find the Christian aspect to be the integral part of the book, it really was more about the thrills and hunt for me in this book. If you were avoiding this book or author because he has been classified as a Christian writer, I think you are making a mistake, while there may be some Christian elements within the book, they are the main theme or element within the book. I would have even mentioned this aspect if I had not read that he was a Christian writer.

I cannot wait to read the next book by Dekker, he has the suspense, hunt and mystery that I am looking for in a thriller novel, that he is able to keep the reader on the edge of their seat throughout the book. I cannot picture myself putting one of his books down if it can live up to the standard he has set with this novel.

Enjoy!!!

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Alex Adams: White Horse

In her debut novel Alex Adams holds nothing back in a dystopia novel that will take you into the darkness of humanity.

THEN: Zoe leads a fairly ordinary life that has had it share of hardships that she is struggling to get past. She is currently working at Pope Pharmaceuticals cleaning the floors and cages as it mundane work that keeps her busy. One day a strange container finds it way into her house, and she gets the feeling that will change everything in her life but does not know why.

NOW: Zoe is struggling to survive in this new world where the humans are on the endangered species list, and there is not much hope of their survival. The disease known as White Horse has killed most of the world population and the majority of those who have not died have mutated into strange creature that now hunt the humans that still live. Zoe is traveling to her one last place of Hope a remote village in Greece, it is what she lives for, but things in the world have changed too much that there is no longer a place for hope.

Travel with Zoe through her THEN and NOW experiences where the world changes around her and when everyone she loves dies, she struggles with keeping her own humanity when faced against people who have lost theirs and keeping her own Hope for life alive.

I was completely engrossed with this book, I did not want to put it down, the story and characters just drew me in from the very beginning (though the the writing style takes a bit to get used to). However, I will be the first to say that this book is not for everyone. It shows the a darker side of humanity when the world is falling apart and people do what they feel they need to to survive, which does not always mean the right, sane, practical or human thing todo. This book is dark, gritty and disturbing with the events that unfold as well as the interaction between the characters. I think that Adams does a great job of setting the tone of the book within the first chapters and that you know going into the book that there are going to be some aspect that you will find disturbing and you may want/need to put it down.

I enjoyed Zoe as a character the reader becomes invested in her as each event unfold both in the "Now" and "Then" segments within the book. You want her to succeed but there really is part of me that for awhile wondered if everything truly was in her head, the jar, the war, the end of the world (or as she liked to say the sky is falling). However, as the story progresses you realize that for all of Zoe's paranoia she has been her protection. You really get invested in Zoe as you learn more and more of her story as well as her never ending will to try to protect what is left of her own humanity.

The world develops as Adams transfers back and forth between Zoe's Then and Now times in her life and it was an adjustment to get used to it. However, I like the two different worlds that Adams was able to set up within one book.  People who do not like reading books where the time period changes will not enjoy this book as it goes back and forth between "Now" and "Then" constantly throughout the book, sometimes only after a paragraph has been written. I was surprised that this was the format that Adams chose to write her novel in, but I personally think that it fit the story-line.

I think that there are a few aspects where Adams missed the mark. The new creatures that have developed because of the White Horse disease are never really fully explained or that there were different "types" of them. These creatures play a fairly big part in the book especially near the end and I was confused why there were differences between what they were like at the beginning and what they were like at the end and why this was never really explained. Additionally, the ending was a little too neat and cookie cutter for me. I was hoping Adams would maintain the darkness throughout the book even to the end, but I understand the need for some joy in Zoe's life and maybe just the need to wrap up the story, I am unsure.

This book pulled me right in from the beginning and has set a new standard for dystopia type novels for me. Adams keeps the fine line between the darkness and light, but even that is flirted with regularly, therefore, as stated above this book is not for everyone, only for those who are venture into the darkness every now and then.

Enjoy!!!

Note: Please be aware, that within this novel there are depictions of violence, rape and sexual abuse of a teenager, and these events are not just hinted at, in some of the situations they are described.

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Cassie Alexander: Nightshifted

In her debut novel Cassie Alexander introduces reader to the paranormal side or nursing those that go bump in the night and all the extra difficulties that go along with it.

Edie is the newest nurse on the specialized Y4 unit and while nursing school would have prepared Edie for a lot, nothing could prepare for working on the creatures that Edie was not aware that they even existed. Edie's current patient is a vampire servant who is being anything but cooperative and Edie is having to keep a constant eye on him just to make sure he stays alive. However, Edie did not know that this one patient is about to change her life, as he dies under her watch it sets into motion events that no one could foresee and she is haunted by his dying request to save Anna. Edie finds herself trapped in a game that she has no control over.

This is really good easy read that I think readers of the paranormal genre will enjoy. This book was light and funny at times and was not overly dark which is part what made it easy to read. This is not to say that nothing happens within this book, overall there is quite a bit of action and mystery throughout the book, but Alexander did really good job in balancing it out with humour and Edie's whit. Alexander was able to create a good story and right off that I was able to get engaged and invested with the characters within this book within the first few pages. I appreciated that Alexander kept the romance and sex to the minimum but I still think that there is enough there to satisfy those who prefer the paranormal romance sub-genre. I think that his book had something for everyone who enjoys the paranormal genre (paranormal, not horror), especially if you are looking for some a little bit different and easy to read.

Many of the creatures within the book are a common within the paranormal genre, therefore, there are vampire, werewolves, zombies (not like  have read about them before, but I am sure others have), but Alexander does take her time to establish a new being, Shadows. These creatures protect access to the hospital, however, their talent is not just turning unsuspecting humans away, they feed off of the despair of other people (and really what better place to be housed that the hospital). I think the Shadows are interesting and while they have a fairly important role you do not really get to know too much about them and what they have the ability to do, so I hope that Alexander explores them further in series.

I liked the idea of Edie being a nurse who works specifically with paranormal creatures and really you name it she treats it. It will be interesting to see what creatures come in for a visit the in the next book. Edie is a great character who may not be the regular kick-ass heroine you normally see in the paranormal genre but what makes Edie unique is that is is Human, that's it plan old human. Who knew that just being Human would be an unique aspect in this genre, but it was nicely refreshing. Edie is also in a tough spot in her life, and the reason she is working on Y4 is to help her brother stay sober from drugs and alcohol, even though he is determined to get High, however, Edie does not complain about this situation she just knows that she needs to do it. Edie is very self aware of her strength and weakness and has a sense of her own self worth, which means there are times where she get depressed, as I stated above, not the typical kick-ass heroine in this book. I think Edie is a breath of fresh air as a character in the paranormal genre.

This is an easy read and I think sure to please those who read in the paranormal genre. It has something a little different from the norm, especially with the main character Edie and the fact that she is a human, as well as the overall flow, plot and mystery within the book. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Enjoy!!!!

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Thomas Perry: The Boyfriend

In the first book in a new series Thomas Perry introduces Jack Till a former LAPD homicide detective turned PI who discovers a killer who is killing all across the USA.

Jack Till retired from the police force to try to have more of a normal life, and while the Private Investigator work is at times like police work it affords him more time with his daughter Holly. However, when parents of a recently murder daughter (about Holly's age) comes in asking for his help he is unable to say no. This girl had been living a secret lifestyle as a high class escort, that had recently turned deadly and the parents want Till to find out who murdered their daughter. What Till actually discovers is a series of escorts who have been killed around the USA and all of them have a remarkable resemblance to his murder victim. Till must find what else connects the girls and what is the killer’s end game, as it appears that more is going on than “just” the murder of high class escorts.

I am having a hard time deciding whether or not I liked this book. I'm not sure if it was the writing style, the plot or something else, but the whole book has seemed a little off to me. This book did not have the thrills I was looking for (I believe some other reviews classify this book as a Thriller, I would not). I found that there was no suspense throughout the book, and while the mystery was okay, the reader knows who the killer is way before Jack Till, therefore, you are always waiting for Till to catch up.

For some reason I could not get invested in the main character Jack Till. There were things about him I liked and disliked but I never felt invested in him, therefore, I found I did not become too attached to him. I actually found that I like the escorts that Perry introduced more than Till, as he humanized them more than he did Till. He attempts to humanize Till with the introduction of his grown daughter who has down syndrome and how he raised her himself, but she still seemed to only be a side part of his life. I think that Perry has plans to develop this relationship further in the future, but I could not get invested in Till as it always appeared that he had nothing to lose. I will say that Perry did a good job of showing his investigative techniques and his tenacity to help the parents of this girl and he grows to great lengths (and sometimes too far) to find the killer.

As with many of the mystery book I read I like when there are chapters from the killer's point of view. I enjoyed that Perry took the time to show how Joey became who he is and what lead him to kill. Additionally, it was interesting to be a part of his thought process once he is given a target and once he finds an escort to his liking. Those who do not like reading from the killer's point of view will not enjoy this book, as the chapters tend to go back and forth between Till and Joey.

Overall this book was okay. It did not have the thriller aspect that I wanted this book to have, and the mystery throughout was okay at best. Where Perry shines is his depiction of the killer and how he became who he is. I enjoyed the insight that Perry provided into Joey's life and did enjoy the chapters from his point of view. I know that Perry has written another series (Jane Whitefield series) that has been well reviewed, so I think I will check out that series.

Enjoy!!!

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