So while I wait for Evil to be on tonight, let's take a look at a couple of new books I found at Nearly New Books yesterday and also update a book I read this week and one I'm about to start another. I'll also take another stab at my ongoing look at the Mystery Genre - American PIs.
New Books
"This second novel begins in 1940, immediately after the first book ended. Having escaped Miss Peregrine’s island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises."
"In his new life as a bartender at the Little Shamrock, Dismas Hardy is just hoping for a little peace. He s left both the police force and his law career behind. Unfortunately it s not as easy to leave behind the memory of a shattering personal loss but for the time being, he can always take the edge off with a stiff drink and a round of darts.
But when the news of Eddie Cochran s death reaches him, Hardy is propelled back into all the things he was trying to escape and forced to untangle a web of old secrets and raw passions, for the sake of Eddie s pregnant widow, Frannie, and for the others whose lives may still be at risk."
"It's Christmas, 1866, and amateur sleuth Charles Lenox, recently engaged to his best friend, Lady Jane Grey, is happily celebrating the holiday in his Mayfair townhouse. Across London, however, two journalists have just met with violent deaths—one shot, one throttled. Lenox soon involves himself in the strange case, but must leave it behind to go north to Stirrington, where he is running for Parliament. Once there, he gets a further shock when Lady Jane sends him a letter whose contents may threaten their nuptials.
In London, the police apprehend two unlikely and unrelated murder suspects. From the start, Lenox has his doubts; the crimes, he is sure, are tied. But how? Racing back and forth between London and Stirrington, Lenox must negotiate the complexities of crime and politics, not to mention his imperiled engagement. But as the case mounts, Lenox learns that the person behind the murders may be closer to him—and his beloved—than he knows."
"On her way to Scotland Yard ro report several murders in her village, an elderly woman encounters a retired policeman, Luke Fitzwilliam. He dismisses her ravings about the murderer finding it easy to kill, as long as no one knows who he is--until two more murders occur--one of which is the old Lady's. Also titled Murder is Easy."
Just Finished
I finished my second book of October, an Anita Blake horror / fantasy. It wasn't my favorite of the series.
"I got hooked on the Anita Blake vampire hunter series many, many years ago and read them voraciously. Then I caught up and had to wait two years for each new book because in alternating years she began writing the Merilea Gentry fairy series. I kind of lost track with the series and it's been a few years since I picked up an Anita book. Blood Noir is the 16th book in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series.
Basically Anita decides to help one of her friends, werewolf Jason, who has to go back home to meet his dying father. Jason has had a troubled relationship with his father and hasn't seen him in years. His father thinks Jason is gay and hates him for it. He doesn't like Jason's career; Jason works as a stripper in one of vampire Jean Claude's clubs in St Louis. Jason is also Anita's pomme de sang; she uses him to feed her ardeur. Anita is kind of going out with Nathaniel, another were-..... If you've never read any of this series before, it's probably not a good place to start. You might want to start with Book 1.. :0)
So, anyway, Anita and Jason head off to Jason's home town and trouble starts to happen almost immediately. Jason looks remarkably like one of the town's wealthy sons, who is a trouble maker. He is supposed to be coming home to be married and his father is, of course, running for president. Because Jason looks like him and is with Anita, the security folks and the press are going crazy because everyone thinks that 'Jason' is cheating on his fiance.. Confused yet? Well, the real guy, Keith Summerland, is somewhere in town and has supposedly pissed off the Master Vampire of another city by eloping with his wife. This Master Vampire has people trying to find and maybe destroy Summerland and may be confusing Jason with him.
Oh yes, Marmee Noir, the Mother of All Darkness, the oldest vampire, who is in a thousand year sleep, seems to be stirring things up, causing Anita all sorts of problems, especially of a sexual nature, e.g. calling all were-tigers to Anita's bed. Oh yes, there is a bit of sex.
It's a confusing story, with security people, wedding parties, vampires and weres- of all stripes, and even a mad, jealous Richard making an appearance. Jean Claude is only very peripheral to this story, but his presence is also felt. I found the story very convoluted and rambling. It was only at the end that everything kind of came together and actually grabbed me. If not for that I probably would have rated it somewhat lower. I guess it advanced Anita's character somewhat but you'd think that after 16 books, you might not need to do that much more. Anyway, entertaining to an extent. I'll check out the next to see what happens next. (3 stars)"
Currently Reading
My second book in my October Horror Genre Challenge.
"An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world."
My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - American Cops
In my last entry I highlighted Chester Himes's Harlem Cycle mystery series.
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| Kay Hooper |
"FBI agent Quentin Hayes always knew he had an unusual talent, even before he was recruited by Noah Bishop for the controversial Special Crimes Unit. But, as gifted as he is, for twenty years he’s been haunted by a heartbreaking unsolved murder that took place at The Lodge, a secluded Victorian-era resort in Tennessee. Now he’s returned one final time, determined to put the mystery to rest.
Diana Brisco has come there hoping to unlock the mystery of her troubled past. Instead, she is assailed by nightmares and the vision of a child who vanished from The Lodge years ago. And an FBI agent is trying to convince her that she isn’t crazy but that she has a rare gift, a gift that could catch a killer.
Quentin knows that this is his last chance to solve a case that has become a dangerous obsession. But can he persuade Diana to help him, knowing what it could cost her? For something cold and dark and pure evil is stalking the grounds of The Lodge. Something Diana may not survive. Something Quentin never felt before: the chill of fear."
"Within the FBI, there exists a team of psychics whose powers cannot be denied. But these agents are feared—by a cabal of conspirators with only one weapon: to blind the psychics to the evils all around them.
Months ago Sarah Gallagher woke from a coma with psychic abilities she couldn’t control. They changed her life and cost her the man she loved. And now, someone is playing games with Sarah’s mind.
It begins with Sarah’s home being destroyed by fire—an act of arson that draws novelist Tucker Mackenzie into Sarah’s confidence. But he has other reasons for pursuing a woman who can see what others can’t. So does a mysterious enemy intent on eliminating Sarah, and everyone she cares about. Because it’s only a matter of time before her visions lead her and Tucker to a secret many will kill to hide. Only then will they begin to discover the scope of a terrifying conspiracy so deep and complex they can trust almost no one."
"Haven by Kay Hooper, the first book in the Haven trilogy is my first exposure to Hooper's writing. It's a mix of psychic investigators and mystery. The Haven trilogy is a small part of a bigger series by Hooper, that being the Bishop Files.
Bishop is an FBI 'investigator' responsible for the Special Crime Unit (SCU), which consists of varied agents who possess a variety of psychic abilities'; mediums, empaths, telepaths, etc. Haven is a privately funded group run by multi-billionaires, John and Maggie Garrett who often assist the SCU in their investigations. In Haven, one of Haven's investigators, Jesse Rayburn, returns to her hometown, Baron Hollow, North Carolina, to visit her sister, to try and make sense of a terrible incident from her earlier years (which she'd buried in her subconscious) and to investigate possible murders. Also in Baron Hollow are Jessie's sister, Emma, who runs a local inn. Emma is having nightmares about missing women; she may have developed psychic powers when she had a concussion. You will also meet another Haven agent, Nathan Navarro, who is there undercover at Maggie's behest. Throw a team of psychic investigators from Bishop's SCU who also happen to be in the mix and you've got quite a few people getting into each other's way.
While Jessie tries to break through the walls that hide what happened so many years ago, there is also a serial killer on the prowl, kidnapping women hikers from out of town and torturing and killing them. These various women are sensed by all of the various psychics who seem to be working on their own as they try to discover who the killer might be.
As you can guess it's a somewhat convoluted story. Every body seems to be working in isolation of the others (a frustrating story line for me, as these things never end well). The story does move along nicely, with plenty of action, but it's far from perfect. I thought the concept was interesting but wasn't totally thrilled with the overall story. I do have another of Hooper's stories on my shelf and I'm interested in seeing how the various organizations and characters might be fleshed out. (3 stars)"
"Haven operative Luther Brinkman has been sent into the wilderness of the Appalachian Mountains to locate escaped bank robber Cole Jacoby—an assignment that leaves Brinkman severely injured, alone, and with no way to convey his location to Haven.
Luckily, Agent Callie Davis of the FBI’s Special Crimes Unit is already closing in. But when she finds the wounded Brinkman, the rescue mission is far from over. What neither Luther nor Callie knows is that their quarry is more than an escaped felon.
In hunting him, they will find themselves being hunted by him—deep in the unfamiliar wilds of Tennessee—and will discover the worst monster either of them has ever known."
The complete list of Bishop books can be found at this link.
There you go. I hope some of the above books interest you. Enjoy the rest of your week.
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