Tag: book review

Mind Virus by Charles Kowalski

Title: Mind Virus
Author: Charles Kowalski
Pub. Date: 1-July-2017
Rating: 5 Stars

Mind Virus by Charles Kowalski is an award winning debut novel and a total adrenaline rush. As scary as the thought is, the events depicted could easily have been real. Given all the attention the media focuses on terrorism and religious extremism it is no wonder that the story will resonate with readers.

Robin Fox is a professor of world religions, ex-Army and conscientious objector. Since he is one of the few people in the world that has had dealings with a new deadly virus he is drawn back into the world of intelligence. As he works to uncover the mastermind behind the plot to kill people of faith, he is led on a chase which leads to various religious celebrations around the world. Robin must race against the clock to stop the planned attacks before this deadly virus is released into the populous. Then it becomes personal to him when his very dear friend Emily Paxton is kidnapped. I do not want to spoil a great story; therefore, I am intentionally being vague and stopping here. Continue reading “Mind Virus by Charles Kowalski”

The Tourist by Robert Dickinson

Title: The Tourist
Author: Robert Dickinson
Pub. Date: 18-Oct-2016
Rating: 2 Stars

The Tourist by Robert Dickinson is a time travel novel that left me wanting. I did manage to get to the end, but it was a struggle at times. The tidbits of information that were supposed to move the plot along were few and far between and ambiguous at best. I love books that make me think and put all the puzzle pieces together in order to have that climatic moment where I can sigh with relief because I get it. That did not happen for me with this book. There were too many puzzle pieces missing for me to get a complete picture. Therefore, I was left wanting in the end.

Then to make matters worse the plot jumps around in time, to various places and different people. Making it more difficult to keep up with what was going on and whose time line I was reading about. I especially did not care for the use of second person for one of the characters. I have read other books were that technique worked well. Its use here turned murky waters to muddy. Continue reading “The Tourist by Robert Dickinson”

The Nazi’s Daughter by Tim Murgatroyd

Title: The Nazi’s Daughter
Author: Tim Murgatroyd
Pub. Date: 31-May-2017
Rating: 4 Stars

The Nazi’s Daughter is set in present day New York City and 1943 Europe at the height of WWII. Elise Van Thoof-Noman is the daughter of a very powerful Dutch Nazi. She is a prima ballerina that has suffered a career ending tendon injury. After recuperating in Paris, Elise heads off to a remote island off the coast of Holland. Once there she meets Pieter Goedhart a school teacher and reluctant resistance fighter. They are drawn to each other, but Pieter must take care with Elise. She cannot find out about the people he is hiding from the Nazis in his attic. If she does, it could jeopardize both their lives and the lives of those he is hiding. Continue reading “The Nazi’s Daughter by Tim Murgatroyd”

The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George

Title: The Confessions of Young Nero
Author: Margaret George
Pub Date: 7-Mar-2017
Rating: 5 Stars

The Confessions of Young Nero is the first installment of a two book series that follows the life of Nero, as he rises, at a young age, to become one of the better known emperors in Roman history. The story is fiction but the facts behind the story are very real. The author takes us into the world of Roman royalty in which greed, deception and murder are a part of everyday life.

We enter the story when Nero is a young child of four. He is not yet Nero, but Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus whose father is dead and mother has been exiled. At this early age he is introduced to the savagery that is part of his heritage when his uncle, the emperor, tries to kill him. Upon his Uncle’s demise, Nero’s mother, Agrippina, is able to return to Rome and reunite with her son. She sees young Nero as a way to achieve her ultimate goal of ruling the Roman Empire. All she needs is the right pawn. Continue reading “The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George”

The Gods Who Walk Among Us by Max Eastern

Title: The Gods Who Walk Among Us
Author: Max Eastern
Pub. Date: 14-Mar-2017
Rating: 4 Stars

The Gods Who Walk Among Us is a fast paced thriller. There is plenty of action, suspense and twists in this story to keep any reader sitting on the edge of their seat. This is Max Eastern’s debut novel and a thriller that will have you wanting more; therefore, thriller lovers should be on the lookout for more from this new author.

The story is set in New York City where Adam Azoulay is a washed up attorney working as a paparazzo trying to survive on a merger living selling celebrity photos. By chance, one evening he captures a brief video of an African warlord with an American celebrity of sorts. This draws the attention of a nonprofit looking to make a name for themselves by presenting an award to an elusive, but well known, human rights advocate. To date they have not been able to reach the recipient. They recruit Adam to track him down. Continue reading “The Gods Who Walk Among Us by Max Eastern”

The Heirs by Susan Rieger

Title: The Heirs
Author: Susan Rieger
Pub. Date: 23-May-2017
Rating: 4.5 Stars

The Heirs is an exceptional story about the complexities of family ties. The story starts with the death of the family patriarch, Rupert Falkes, a wealthy and prominent attorney in New York City.  He dies leaving behind a wife, Eleanor, and five sons. Six months after his death a woman comes forth and declares that she had two sons by Rupert. At first, the family dismisses the claim as a gold seeker looking for a way to make money. As the story progresses and more family secrets are revealed the truth is slowly uncovered but not before the whole family is pushed into turbulence.

The whole family is dysfunctional. Some of the characters I liked and some I didn’t. Eleanor’s character was the best by far mainly because she was the most believable. However, some of the sons lacked in development. They made stupid decisions, which all people make, I just never fully understood why and that detracted a little from the story. Nonetheless, it was not enough of a flaw to affect my overall rating of the book. Continue reading “The Heirs by Susan Rieger”

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

Title: The Radium Girls
Author: Kate Moore
Pub. Date: 2-May-2017
Rating: 5 Stars

I almost don’t know where to begin because The Radium Girls is a tragic story.  It is probably one of the most difficult books, emotionally, I have ever read.  It is the true story of the young women who worked in factories that applied a luminous Radium paint onto watch dials so they would glow. Of course, the women did not know it was dangerous and their employers went out of their way to make sure they remained ignorant of the facts. Their struggle to get answers about why they were so sick and get justice once they discovered it was caused by the Radium is inspiring.

For these “girls”, some as young as fourteen, it was a dream of a job. The pay was excellent and to be working with the wondrous new element Radium, that almost every day some new benefit was found, was an added benefit. You were indeed lucky to be hired on to work in the painting studio. The Radium dust settled in the women’s hair and clothes causing them to glow. Everyone wanted to be one of the alluring luminous Radium girls. Even some privileged girls would work for a short period of time to experience it. Continue reading “The Radium Girls by Kate Moore”

The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger

Title: The Singles Game
Author: Lauren Weisberger
Pub. Date: 12-Jul-2016
Rating: 4 Stars

When I was offered a copy of this book I jumped on it, for two reasons, I loved The Devil Wears Prada and the book meets task one on the 2017 Book Riot’s challenge. The theme of this book is buyer beware because sometimes you get more than you bargained for.

That is exactly what happened to Charlotte “Charlie” Silver. After a devastating injury Charlie is not hearing the words she wants to from her coach. She is a driven young woman and being told she may not be able to play tennis on the same level again does not sit well with her. Therefore, she fires her longtime coach and hires Todd Feltner, a no nonsense coach, with a reputation of being ruthless on his players and expecting the same from them. Continue reading “The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger”

The Angel Alejandro by Alistair Cross

Title: The Angel Alejandro
Author: Alistair Cross
Pub Date: 25-Jan-2017
Rating: 4 Stars

At the core, The Angel Alejandro by Alistair Cross is about greed and lust and its effects when all restraints are removed. A true good versus evil story. The book is rather long (521 pages) and took longer than I thought to read. The reason for the slow read was not the speed of the plot, but I found myself totally absorbed in the story and wanted to go slower and savor all the details.

Alejandro is an angel that has been pulled into this world when Madison O’Riley fell from the roof of her home. He saved her life, yet he cannot remember who he is and strange things happen around him. He hears voices calling for help in his mind and when he responds to one such voice his powers are revealed to the entire world. There is an immediate media frenzy and everyone seems to want a piece of him, including another new comer in town, Gremory Jones. Continue reading “The Angel Alejandro by Alistair Cross”

Come Sundown by Nora Roberts

Title: Come Sundown
Author: Nora Roberts
Pub. Date: 30-May-2017
Rating: 4 Stars

Come Sundown is the story of the Bodine family and is part romance and part thriller. The story opens twenty-five years ago when Alice, the prodigal daughter, who ran off to California to become a movie star, is returning home. Just miles from her family home she is abducted by a stranger known only as “Sir”.

Skip forward to the present and Bodine Longbow, she is the fourth generation, now runs the Bodine resort which sits on a sprawling thirty thousand acre ranch in Montana. Vacationers and honeymooners alike come to the resort to experience the cowboy life and Bodine runs the show seamlessly with the help of a large staff. Continue reading “Come Sundown by Nora Roberts”