More and more books are available exclusively as eBooks. Even mainstream authors like Baldacci, DeMille and Picoult are joining the movement. Here are some of my reviews for titles available for the Kindle:
Title: Stop the Wedding! A Romantic Comedy
Author: Stephanie Bond
Annabelle Coakley’s widowed mother is getting married to Martin Castleberry. This is not good news. Castleberry is a playboy movie star. He has been married five times before and each wife is younger than her predecessor. Anna belle is a divorce lawyer, she has dealt with the pain and suffering of divorce, she does not want her mother to get hurt, so she must stop the wedding. Clay is martin’s son, he is used to cleaning up his father’s messes,he wants to end this relationship before his father makes another big mistake. They are both on the same mission but never on the same track, it is the formula for a humorous, light read.
Tags: Humor, Mistaken identity, Love, Family, Second Chances, Romance
A Petulant French Sculptor, His Quest for Immortality and the Real Story of the Statue of Liberty
Author: Elizabeth Mitchell
Mitchell portrays French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi in an unfavorable light. She depicts him as a man obsessed with finding a venue of his colossal statue because it would be a way to immortalize him. Under the guise of a gift to the United States, he struggled for years to collect funds for the project. He travelled across America and expressed his disdain for the people, food, culture and the land. He said his statue would be “Liberty enlightening the World,” according to Mitchell’s opinions it sounds like the sculptor could have used some enlightenment.
Tags: Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, Statue of Liberty, New York City 1886, Art history
Title: Deep Down: A Jack Reacher Story
Author: Lee Child
There are four political liaison officers; one of them is a traitor. Reacher goes undercover to discover who the mole is and who she is working for. The short story format never gives the reader a chance to get to know the characters or to get involved with the plot. The resolve came about too quickly, I wish the story was longer because the premise was interesting and I liked Reacher.
Tags: Washington, D.C., Spies, Espionage, Military Secrets, Short Story, Suspense
Title: No Time Left
Author: David Baldacci
Frank Becker is just your average guy, he blends in crowd, and you don’t even notice him. The only remarkable thing about him is that he is very good at his job, he is a professional hitman. No questions asked, no remorse, he just kills his target and collects his payment. So when an old man hires him to kill a young woman, he boards a train; stabs her to death; and disappears in a very permanent way…You know what is going to happen, Baldacci gives you definite clues, but the ending still makes you think..
Tags: Hitman, Time Travel, Suspense, Short Story
Title: The 7th Woman
Author: Frederique Molay
Translated from the French by Anne Trager
Inspector Nico Sirsky is the Chief of Police, Head of the Paris Criminal Investigation Division. When Marie-Helene Jory, Assistant Professor of History at the Sorbonne, is killed in her home, Nico is called in to investigate. The homicide has sexual overtones and the victim was brutally tortured. The killer was slow, methodical and calculating, he enjoyed the kill. When similar murders occur, Nico realizes that they are dealing with a serial killer, a killer who begins leaving messages for Nico. This crime novel is not for the squeamish but the plot twists and the appealing characters will draw you in as the acts of violence repel you. Read it with the lights on and whatever you do, don’t answer your doorbell…
Tags: Paris, Murder, Police procedurals, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Title: The Playground
Author: Ray Bradbury
Charles Underhill wants to protect his 3 year old son Jim from bullies in the playground. Memories of his own tortured childhood keep him awake at night and he vows that his son will not suffer the some horrors. He makes a pact with the mysterious playground manager but only after the pact is set does he discover the true nature of the deal. Sometimes the subtle horrors are the most chilling; this is the case with Bradbury’s short story.
Tags: Bullying, Pacts, Psychological Thriller, Horror
Title: The Book Case
Author: Nelson DeMille
Otis Parker owns the Dead End Bookstore in Manhattan. An employee finds him dead in his shop. He was killed by a fallen bookcase. Was it a bizarre accident or premeditated murder? Detective John Corey must solve this puzzle. This is a clever locked room mystery, that has an unusual choice for a murder weapon.
Tags: New York City, Murder investigation, Mystery, Short Story
Title: A Leaf on the Wind Of All Hollows: An Outlander Novella
Author: Diana Gabaldon
What happened to Jerry Mackenzie and his wife, Marjorie who were mentioned in Gabaldon’s novel “An Echo in the Bone? We know that their son Roger Mackenzie is an orphan but his parent’s demise was never explained, this novella tells their story. Jerry Mackenzie was recruited to spy on the Germans by taking aerial photographs in Poland. While on a training exercise to test this new technology, he crashes in Northumbria but his body was never found. His widow, Marjorie, was killed in the London blitz but before she dies she sees Jerry again.
Tags: Time Travel, Outlander series, World War Two, Historical fiction, Romance
Title: A Lesson in Chemistry with Inspector Bruce
Author: Jullian Stone
In 1887 London, forensics is a new science being used to fight crime. Archibald Bruce is the Director of the Crime Laboratory for the Criminal Investigations Division of Scotland Yard whose typical day is spent collecting and testing evidence, dealing with explosives and creating new devices. In his spare time he is a Professor of Chemistry at the university where he meets Fiona Rose. Archie finds love, rescues Agent Phineas Gunn and becomes entangled in a mission to stop an arms dealer from supplying weapons and explosives to anarchist factions throughout Europe and the Americas. Readers familiar with the Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series will be familiar with Archie who is an important character but not one of the major characters. I am glad to learn more about him and hope that he becomes the focus of a future novel. The titles in the series are: “An Affair with Mr. Kennedy” bk 1, “A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis” bk 2 and “A Private Duel with Agent Gunn” bk 3.
Tags: London 1887, Scotland Yard, forensics, Historical fiction, Adventure, Romance
Title: Extraction
Author: Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
This is a fairytale gone terribly wrong. Pendergast tells his ward the story of an event that happened during his childhood in New Orlean’s French Quarter. Children in his neighborhood believed that old Maurus Dufour, who lived in a decaying mansion, was the tooth fairy. They would leave their teeth in a wooden box on his porch, even though they received no reward, so they would be safe from Dufour’s revenge. One day Pendergast stole his brother’s tooth from the box; his brother went missing for a day and their uncle Everett, who went to Dufour’s home, never returned. Pendergast and his father went to the mansion and made a gruesome discovery.
Tags: New Orleans French Quarter, tooth fairy legend, thriller, short story, Horror
Title: Racing With the Wind
Author: Regan Walker
Hugh Redgrave, Marquess of Ormond, is the only son of the Duke of Albany, he is a reputed rake and leading a secret life as a spy/thief for the Prince Regent. There is unrest in France after Napolean’s defeat, a double agent is passing along British intelligence. Hugh must uncover the agent’s identity. Lady Mary Campbell is the headstrong, rebellious, intelligent niece of Lord Baynes, who is a diplomat for the Prince Regent. She continually places herself in grave danger to thwart a Prussian plot against the king. If the enemy doesn’t kill her, Hugh might…This is the first book in the Agents of the Crown Trilogy.
Tags: London 1816, Spies, Napolean, Intrigue, Historical fiction, Romance, Adventure
