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Monday, November 3, 2014

Review & Giveaway: Misdirection by Austin Williams

Misdirection
The Rusty Diamond Trilogy

by Austin Williams

on Tour at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours October 17 - November 21, 2014




Book Details:


Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Published by: Diversion Books
Publication Date: June 24, 2014
Number of Pages: 266
Series: 1st in The Rusty Diamond Trilogy
ISBN: 9781626813557
Purchase Links:


My Thoughts: Rusty has been hiding in his home town for the past year. All that changes when his landlord turns up dead and he becomes the main suspect. What Rusty does when faced with this is surprising. I love that Rusty has hidden demons and I was anxious to keep reading to find them all out. His quick critical thinking and skills as an illusionist have the tendency to get him in trouble. The suspense and action begins with the first page and continues to the very last. I look forward to seeing what is in store for Rusty in forthcoming books. 

Synopsis:

A street magician needs more than sleight-of- hand to survive getting embroiled in a murder case in this blistering novel of suspense, perfect for fans of Harlan Coben and George Pelecanos.
After years of chasing fame and hedonistic excess in the bright lights of Las Vegas, Rusty "The Raven" Diamond has returned home to Ocean City to piece his life back together. When he finds himself an innocent suspect in his landlord's brutal murder, Rusty abandons all hope of maintaining a tranquil existence. Acting on impulse, he digs into the investigation just enough to anger both the police and a local drug cartel.
As the unsolved case grows more complex, claiming new victims and inciting widespread panic, Rusty feels galvanized by the adrenaline he's been missing for too long. But his newfound excitement threatens to become an addiction, leading him headfirst into an underworld he's been desperately trying to escape.
Austin Williams creates an unforgettable protagonist in Rusty, a flawed but relatable master of illusion in very real danger. As the suspense builds to an explosively orchestrated climax, Williams paints a riveting portrait of both a city—and a man—on the edge.


Read an excerpt:

The bloodstain was shaped like Florida. Rusty didn’t know much about geography, probably couldn’t point out more than a handful of states on a map. But he knew what Florida looked like, even though he’d never been there. And the mass of drying blood stretching across the hardwood floor, coming to a rounded tip a few inches from his leather boots (this tip just slightly darker than the wide stream comprising most of the stain) was a dead ringer for the Sunshine State.
He knew it was a strange thing to consider, given the circumstances. Hardly an appropriate mental response to such an intensely disturbing situation. He wasn’t in shock, exactly, but he had no idea what to do with himself. There was nothing he could do until the police arrived. Which should be any minute now. In fact, he was starting to wonder what the hell was taking so long.
Rusty wasn’t sure of how much confidence to place in the Ocean City Police Department. When it came to traffic stops and busts for disorderly conduct, open containers, public nudity and the like, the OCPD was surely qualified.
But murder? That had to fall well outside the parameters of what the local law was accustomed to handling on a regular basis. Or so Rusty mused, mainly to occupy his mind and not keep checking his wristwatch every ten seconds.
Rusty stared at the bloodstain’s surface congealing in the reflection of an overhead lamp. About two feet in width at the center, it grew wider near its source. That source was the throat of a frail silver-haired woman who lay crumpled on the floor. The upper half of her body reached into the living room while her legs protruded onto the dull yellow linoleum of the kitchen. One orthopedic shoe lay on its side next to the stove, the other still on her left foot.
Two more minutes and I’m calling 911 again, he told himself.
This house in which he was currently the sole occupant—not counting its recently deceased owner—wasn’t technically located in OC proper but in a remote enclave called Ocean Pines, separated from the main town by eight miles of salty bay water. A quiet upscale community, Rusty had a fairly complete knowledge of its character, having spent the first eighteen years of his life here and moving back ten months ago.
Next Thursday would be his thirty-sixth birthday. He had little awareness of that fact, and less interest in it.
For all Rusty knew, this was the first murder to darken the Pines’ suburban pastoral facade since the town was incorporated in 1958. And it definitely was murder, of that he had no doubt. No one could conceivably take their own life in such a manner, and certainly not a frail seventy-eight-year-old spinster.
The opening in Ms. Garrett’s throat was not long, maybe three inches at most. It looked like more of a gouge than a slash. There was no knife or sharp implement anywhere in the room, and Rusty didn’t dare step over the body to take a look in the kitchen.
The skin around the gash didn’t appear to have been torn with a blade, but hacked away by a cruder implement.
Fingernails? Teeth?
Rusty shuddered as he pondered the options, and forced himself to stop thinking about it.
The hum of a car’s engine and pebbles crunching underneath a set of tires claimed his attention. He walked to the front door, pulling aside a sash by the adjacent window to look outside into the hazy afternoon light.
Finally.
An Ocean City Police Department patrol unit sat in the driveway, engine idling. Rusty saw the door swing open, and a powerfully built officer stepped out. He grimaced. The cop didn’t appear to be much older than a high schooler. Probably fresh out of the Academy with plenty to prove behind the badge.
Why didn’t they send a detective, Rusty wondered, unlatching the door and opening it slowly so as not to make a surprise appearance on the front porch. Well, it was possible the OCPD’s homicide unit didn’t keep more than one ranking detective on any given shift. They probably didn’t need more than that.
The young patrol cop was taking purposeful strides toward the house, fleshy face set tight as he spoke into a shoulder mic, confirming with a dispatcher his arrival at the location. His eyes widened just slightly before narrowing as he made a quick appraisal of Rusty Diamond.
“You’re the one who made the call?”
Rusty nodded.
“She’s in there,” he said, stepping aside to let the patrol officer enter the house.
The cop had not taken two full steps into the living room when he stopped abruptly, one hand falling onto the service revolver holstered on his right hip.
“Jesus Christ.”
“Yeah,” Rusty said. “That was pretty much my reaction.”
For a moment they stood there, two tall male shapes looming over a plump female form in a spattered floral dress.
“Found her just like this?”
“That’s right. I didn’t touch anything.”
“How long?”
“Can’t be much more than fifteen minutes. I called right away.”
“You know her?”
“Her name’s Thelma Garrett. She’s my landlord.”
The sound of that didn’t sit right with Rusty; it was too removed and devoid of any kind of feeling. He almost added something like, 'She was kind to me', but figured that was bound to come out wrong.
The cop finally looked up from the old woman’s body, seeming to peel his eyes away by an act of will.
“You live here?”
“No. She owns … owned a second house not far from here, on Echo Run. I’ve been renting it.”
Those words brought on a sudden rush of memory. Rusty could see with total clarity in his mind’s eye the day he first met Ms. Garrett. Just over ten months ago, on a frigid January morning. The meeting didn’t happen here but at the rental house he’d occupied ever since.
At the time Rusty was so disoriented at finding himself back in Ocean Pines after such a prolonged absence that he had some difficulty maintaining a conversation with the chatty spinster. He agreed to her proposed rental fee, which seemed low for a three-bedroom furnished property overlooking Isle of Wight Bay. Location alone must have made the house a highly desirable piece of real estate, and he couldn’t figure why she was willing to rent it out for such a reasonable sum.
Speaking in the kindly, crinkly voice he’d come to associate with her in all moods, Ms. Garrett replied she had no use for the property or a large boost in income. Once shared with her husband and the scene of many festive gatherings, it was too big for her current needs. And too lonely. Living as a childless widow in a modest two-bedroom tract house on nearby Heron Lane was much more comfortable.
Thelma (she’d insisted Rusty use her first name) didn’t want to go through the hassle of trying to sell the larger house in a lackluster market, and was glad to simply know it would be occupied after many dormant years. It depressed her to think of the house where she and her family had shared so many good occasions sitting dark and forlorn all this time. Rusty signed the lease, feeling halfway guilty for paying so little.
“How’d you happen to find her?” the patrol officer said, yanking Rusty back from his reverie.
A slight whiff of something Rusty didn’t like crept into the cop’s voice. A taunt, almost, most likely the by-product of youth and rattled nerves. He scanned the badge pinned to the kid’s chest.
“Tell you what, Officer Neely. Why don’t we go through the whole thing when a detective gets here. Someone’s on the way, right?”
“I’m the one you need to talk to now.”
“Officer, trust me. I’m going to give my full cooperation. Whoever did this needs to …”
He stopped. The cop was looking at him with a new kind of scrutiny. Now that the initial shock of seeing the dead woman was fading, he seemed to take a full view of Rusty for the first time. The expression on his face didn’t make much of an effort to hide a sense of disgust.
Rusty suddenly wished he’d kept his leather jacket on, but the living room had become stifling as he stood here waiting for the cavalry to arrive. The jacket lay draped on a sofa and he was wearing a black tank top, leaving his shoulders and arms open to easy view. Perusal would be more accurate, given the snaking tracks of words and symbols tattooed across much of his upper torso, coiling around the back of his neck and splitting into two vines that reached down both arms almost to the wrists.
“Latin, for the most part,” he said with a self-deprecating shrug. “Just for looks, really. I don’t know what half of it means myself.”
Officer Neely’s posture tensed visibly. His fingers once again found a place to rest on his gun.
“Turn around slowly, and show me your hands.”
Rusty tried to pretend he’d misheard.
“Sorry, what?”
“Come on, do it.”
“You’re going to cuff me? I’m the one who called this in, remember?”
“Just turn around. We’ll keep you nice and snug till backup gets here.”
“Look, I’m as freaked out as you are. But I didn’t do anything to this poor woman.”
“You’re resisting? I said let’s see those hands.”
He unsnapped the button on top of his holster. It seemed like a good moment to do something.
“For the last time, turn around!”
Rusty knew he could disarm this uniformed frat boy in just about 2.7 seconds. The task wouldn’t present much of a challenge. He could easily divert Neely’s eyeline with a lateral, non-aggressive movement of his left arm. Momentarily distracted, the cop would never see the fingers of Rusty’s right hand extracting a one-inch smoke pellet from a customized hidden pocket in his jeans. Pinched at the proper angle, the pellet would explode in a blinding flash followed by a plume of gray smoke. Utterly harmless but highly effective for misdirection.
The span of time Officer Neely would need to recover from his surprise would offer Rusty ample opportunity to relieve him of the gun. Using his fingertips, he’d grab the wrist and isolate pressure points causing Neely’s hand to open involuntarily. From there, Rusty would simply reposition his body at a 45-degree angle and use his left hand to retrieve a sterling set of monogrammed handcuffs tucked in a different hidden pocket. One more second would be sufficient to cuff the young patrolman to a column of the bannister directly behind him.
They were only trick cuffs, but Officer Neely didn’t know that. And unless he could perform with great precision, the sequence of twisting wrist movements needed to unlatch them, the knowledge wouldn’t do him any good. So, yes, the maneuver would surely come off. Just as successfully as it had in a thousand performances, even if those all occurred some time ago and Rusty’s reflexes were no longer quite what they used to be.
But what would any of that accomplish other than to greatly amplify a sense of suspicion for his role in a brutal murder he had absolutely nothing to do with? Plus bring on a raft of other charges for failing to comply with orders, impeding police business, assault, et cetera. Obviously it was a bad play all around, however tempting.
So Rusty slowly turned 180 degrees and lowered his hands. Audibly relieved, Officer Neely stepped forward and bound them with a pair of un-monogrammed OCPD handcuffs. They closed around his wrists more tightly then necessary, pinching hard on the skin.
Hearing the cuffs snap shut, Rusty glanced up and was startled by his reflection in a mirror above the sofa. He’d deliberately removed all mirrors from his own residence the day he moved in, and hadn’t gotten a good look at his face in many months.
Given his appearance today, he could hardly fault this overeager junior lawman for wanting to lock him in restraints. For a guy who’d once placed such a premium on maintaining a well-cultivated exterior, it was shocking to see just how unkempt he was. Had he really let himself go that much in the past year? Evidently, if the mirror was to be believed.
His long black hair, once treated daily by a personal stylist, was now a ratty mane. The two-pointed devil’s goatee, formerly a key visual hallmark of his stagecraft, looked no more than an uneven graying scrub. And all that ink: pentagrams, death’s head skulls and weird incantations etched up and down his sinewy arms.
Hell, anyone with a working pair of eyes would find Rusty Diamond a more than credible murder suspect.

Author Bio:

The new thriller by Austin Williams, Misdirection, is now available from Diversion Books. It is the first novel of The Rusty Diamond Trilogy.
Williams is the author of the acclaimed suspense novels Crimson Orgy and The Platinum Loop. He is the co-author (with Erik Quisling) of Straight Whisky: A Living History of Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll on the Sunset Strip.
He lives in Los Angeles.

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Thursday, October 9, 2014

Hexed by Kevin Hearne

Author: Kevin Hearne
Title: Hexed
Publication: June 7, 2011
Publisher: Del Rey
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 320
Audience: 18 and up
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Purchased

Synopsis (from the cover): Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

My thoughts:
 I love this series. My husband and I are going to a book reading and signing to see Kevin Hearne, and three other authors at the end of this month. I'm trying to read them all before then, so I may review them all before then. Please bear with me.
Atticus is at it again. This time he has two weirdos following him, a coven of witches out to kill him, and a group of Bacchus worshipers ready to burn down the town.  All the while he is trying to grow back his ear, please the Morrigan and Flidais, train his padawan, and run his bookstore. However, Mr. O'Sullivan cannot stay out of trouble, even after he defeated Aengus Og. Even the trickster Coyote ropes him into helping him with a demon problem. There is plenty of humor mixed in. There are so many shenanigans he gets into. I love his Irish Wolfhound, Oberon- he is the best comedic relief as is his neighbor the Widow MacDonagh. She had me rolling in the scene where Atticus is attacked by two witches at her house. There is a enough drama, comedy, and action to keep you from putting this book down. Seriously, if you love to laugh, love urban fantasy- check this book out NOW!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Finder by Pepper Thorn

Author: Pepper Thorn
Title: Finder
Publication: March 24, 2014
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Genre: Fairy Tale, Young Adult
Pages: 200
Audience: 13 and up
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Source: Purchased

Synopsis (from the cover): All Sara wanted was her family, back again,but Faery bargains always come with a price,
and what you look for is not always what you seek.

Ever since she can remember, Sara McAlister has had a knack for finding things. What she has not had for the last year is a family.

Since the accident that stole her dad and little sister, Sara has been living a lie, pretending that everything was fine, and that she and her mom were moving on. But when Queen Titania summons her into the beautiful and treacherous Faery, Sara gets a chance to make her lies reality.

The Holy Grail has disappeared, and King Oberon with it. Sara's knack may be the key to saving them … and getting her life back. But there are more powers at play than even Queen Titania is aware of.

Can Sara use her increasingly unreliable gift to complete a quest that has claimed the lives and sanity of Faery’s finest knights


My thoughts:
I found out about this indie author and book from a small convention I went to called the Alabama Phoenix Festival. Pepper Thorn was a panelist in a panel I attended. She of course promoted her book. I had mentioned wanting it after spotting it in the Dealer's Room and reading the synopsis. My husband had bought it for me while I was at the panel. I went back to get it signed. 
This is a fairy tale...you have the Fairy Queen, Titania, and the King, Oberon. For me personally, it took a little while to get into. I think it really hit its stride around page 100. However, I was reading it each day for about 30 minutes at work, and I had just changed from night shift to day shift...so I was dealing with lack of sleep and other kinds of issues. It could have been me, not the book. I did have a problem with Sara just jumping into the fairy realm without thinking. I felt there were some things left untethered. Like how did Sara learn about her gift? How did the fairies know about Sara and her gift? Why did Nuthelm follow Sara through out her life? At the end Sara is given another gift in the fairy realm, but when she comes back to the human realm, there is no trace of it, so what happened to her gift? Why happened to the twin guards?
Also, this is the second novel that I have read that uses Rock City as a meeting ground. This first was American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I thought it was kind of neat especially since that is where I went for my honeymoon, and I know the landscape a bit. Sara goes into the fairy realm on Monte Sano Mountain, which is really close to my home town. To me, that was really cool.
I thought the book was great. It follows Sara who is on an fairy quest and pretty much learns how to deal with her grief and guilt along the way. There are many creatures from unicorns to tiny tree people. It stays pretty action packed, except for the walking/vision scenes. I found those a little slow, but I think they are imperative to the story. I put young adult for the suggested reading age, but I would suggest 13 and up for this story. It is a fantastic novel filled with all sorts of fairy creatures, villains, and heroes. 
 

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Audio Review: Don't Breathe A Word by Jennifer McMahon

Title: Don't Breathe A Word: A Novel
Author: Jennifer McMahon
Narrator: Lily Rains
Publisher: Harper Audio
Format: Unabridged Audio
Length: 12 hrs 2 mins
Publication: May 17, 2011
Source: Library
Genre: Psychological Suspense


Synopsis: 
On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen.

Fifteen years later, Phoebe is in love with Sam, a practical, sensible man who doesn't fear the dark and doesn't have bad dreams--who, in fact, helps Phoebe ignore her own. But suddenly the couple is faced with a series of eerie, unexplained occurrences that challenge Sam's hardheaded, realistic view of the world. As they question their reality, a terrible promise Sam made years ago is revealed--a promise that could destroy them all.

My Thoughts: I loved this read. The suspense was intense, i was on pins and needles until the very end. Then my jaw hit the floor. This psychological suspense had my mind in knots. From the very beginning I was suspicious of the Fairy King and whether he was real or fantasy. I quickly came to the  conclusion that he must be real or there is a huge conspiracy encompassing just about everyone in the state of Vermont. Lisa story and having to know what really happened to her her kept me moving through to the end. I was not disappointed by this read. 

This is a single voiced unabridged audio performed by Lily Rains. The original material works wonderfully as on audio presentation. Lily does an excellent job differentiating between characters. She uses tone, inflection, and accent. Gender differences are also clear.  Lily adds that extra suspense to the book and breathes life into each character. Pace is maintained throughout the production and plot flows without interruption. During the opening music is used and creates the creepy atmosphere appropriate to the book. I enjoyed Lily's narration and look forward to listening to her again. 

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Audio Review: W.A.R.P. by Eoin Colfer

Title: The Reluctant Assassin 
Author: Eoin Colfer
Narrator: Maxwell Caulfield
Publisher: Listening Library
Format: Unabridged Audio
Length: 9 hrs 29 mins
Publication: May 7, 2013
Source: Gift- Audio Book Sync
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction


Synopsis: 
Riley, a teen orphan boy living in Victorian London, has had the misfortune of being apprenticed to Albert Garrick, an illusionist who has fallen on difficult times and now uses his unique conjuring skills to gain access to victims' dwellings. On one such escapade, Garrick brings his reluctant apprentice along and urges him to commit his first killing. Riley is saved from having to commit the grisly act when the intended victim turns out to be a scientist from the future, part of the FBI's Witness Anonymous Relocation Program (WARP) Riley is unwittingly transported via wormhole to modern day London, followed closely by Garrick. 

In modern London, Riley is helped by Chevron Savano, a nineteen-year-old FBI agent sent to London as punishment after a disastrous undercover, anti-terrorist operation in Los Angeles. Together Riley and Chevie must evade Garrick, who has been fundamentally altered by his trip through the wormhole. Garrick is now not only evil, but he also possesses all of the scientist's knowledge. He is determined to track Riley down and use the timekey in Chevie's possession to make his way back to Victorian London where he can literally change the world.

My Thoughts:
I was surprised by how much I loved this book. Chevie Savano is a tough girl just trying to become a "real" FBI agent. She is taking her small role seriously. Riley is just trying to survive day to day in late  1890's England. This is a test within it self not to mention Riley is training to be an assassin and his teacher is one scary dude. 

During the story we learn how each main character came to be in their current situation and the motivations for their actions. It's easy to see why Agent Orange's father hid the time keys. Perhaps he should have moonlighted in another area or time. 

This is an entertaining read. It's clear there is a need for a second book but this could have easily been a standalone. I'm excited to see where the next book takes Chevie and Riley I'm positive adventure is in their future. 

This is a single voiced unabridged audio performed by Maxwell Caulfield. He does a outstanding job with variations in gender and with differentiating each character. Pace is well maintained throughout the production. Caulfield is able to breathe emotion and intent into his narration. 



Monday, September 15, 2014

Excerpt & Giveaway: Track Presius Series by E.E. Giorgi

Track Presius Series, Books 1 & 2

by E.E. Giorgi

Book Blast on September 8, 2014



Chimeras

by E.E. Giorgi


Book Details:


Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Published by: Quemazon Publishing
Publication Date: April 5 2014
Number of Pages: 406
ISBN: 978-0996045100
Purchase Links:


Synopsis:

Haunted by the girl he couldn't save in his youth, and the murder he committed to avenge her, Detective Track Presius has a unique gift: the vision and sense of smell of a predator. When a series of apparently unrelated murders reel him into the depths of genetic research, Track feels more than a call to duty. Children are dying -- children who, like himself, could have been healthy, and yet something, at some point, went terribly wrong. For Track, saving the innocent becomes a quest for redemption. The only way he can come to terms with his dark past is to understand his true nature.


Kudos:

Chimeras is now a Reader's Favorite 2014 Book Award Finalist!! Check it out here: Reader's Favorite.

Read an excerpt:

PROLOGUE
It was one of those hot summer afternoons, with air made of cobwebs and a glare as sharp as pencils.
“Something’s wrong today,” I said.
“It’s L.A.,” my partner replied. “Something’s always wrong in L.A.”
A few hours later Johnny Carmelo was dead, his brains skewered by the whistling path of one of my bullets. He collapsed on the pavement, a red trickle of blood weeping down his face. They told me they weren’t going to clear me back to duty until the investigation was over. I left the next day. I drove up to the Sierras, camped in my truck, and hunted at night.
There are days I long to disappear in the wild, go back to the predator life I was meant to have. Kill the prey or be killed: it’s in my genes.
A chimera, that's what I am. And this is my story.




Mosaics

by E.E. Giorgi


Book Details:


Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Published by: Quemazon Publishing
Publication Date: 9/2014
Number of Pages: ~410
ISBN: 978-0-9960451-1-7
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Synopsis:

Dubbed the Byzantine Strangler because of the mysterious mosaic tiles he leaves at the crime scene, a new serial killer is stalking the streets of Los Angeles. Racing to decipher the code encrypted in the tiles before the killer strikes again, Detective Track Presius faces a new challenge: the "awakened" genes that make his vision and olfactory sense so sharp are now taking a toll on his life. When a new set of tiles appears in his own backyard, Track makes a chilling realization: those very same genes that are threatening his life are drawing the Byzantine Strangler closer and closer. The line between hunter and hunted has suddenly blurred. Will Track be the next piece of the mosaic puzzle?


Read an excerpt:

MOSAICS – excerpt

A dark hallway with no windows opened to the right of the foyer. The smells changed—the staleness of a vacant place and the victim’s scent—feminine, ambitious, seductive. The wall displayed wrought iron sconces and a collection of photos of Amy—Amy in her graduation gown, Amy with friends, Amy with her cat. A pretty face, I noticed, whose beauty didn’t distract from an underlining drive for determination.

Her bedroom was orderly. There was a half-empty birth control kit in her nightstand drawer, but no boyfriend in her life, according to the friends and relatives interviewed, only an ex-husband who now lived in Oregon. Toiletries on her vanity table, regular clothes in her closet, a few garments in her drawers that told me she was no nun, but no distinctive masculine scent anywhere. If she shared her bed with somebody, she’d done a good job at hiding it. The sheets smelled clean and freshly washed.

The next door let to her home office, a small carpeted room with a couple of white bookcases, a table with a desktop and printer, a metal chair, and, on the opposite side, a futon, a laundry basket, and an ironing table folded against the wall. Through the window, the hills of Montecito glowed against the evening sky, a wavy fabric of glimmering lights.

I inhaled. The bookshelves were crammed with medical books, the desk buried under stacks of papers.

The sweet, foul smell of the tiles…

I sat at the desk, opened the drawers, sniffed the keyboard, then the computer screen.

Not here. Close, though.

The papers. He went through the pile of papers.

I rummaged through the folders not knowing what to look for, just tailgating a smell. Gloved fingers had brushed through printouts and graphs, tables, essays, research proposals…

Did he find what he was looking for? And if so, what?

Article after article of scientific jargon, each title some random permutation of the words immunodeficiency, vaccine, study design, therapy, antiretroviral.

“What are you gonna see in the dark?” By the office door, Satish flipped the light switch.

“Smells.”

“On paper?”

“Yeah. And patterns, too,” I said. I sniffed the top right corner. I could follow the gloved fingers searching through the pile of papers, most likely a left thumb holding up the top ones so he could read the titles, and a right index flipping through. Until the trace stopped.

He found what he was looking for. Probably took it with him.

I inhaled and gave one last look around. Everything else seemed untouched.

“What did Gomez have to say?”

Satish shook his head sideways. “Autopsy’s scheduled for Thursday morning. Just got an invitation. Wanna join the party?” He smiled. Waited.

Amy Liu smiled too, from a silver frame on her desk, a man’s hand draping her shoulder, and a strand of black hair blowing over her face.

“Fine,” I said, walking past him out of the room. “I’ll keep you company on Thursday, but—” He switched the lights off and followed me back to the foyer. “Uh-uh, Track. First things first. Tomorrow you pee in a cup and get your LAPD badge back.”

“I pee in a what?”

We locked the house, replaced the yellow crime scene tape. The air was tainted with a hint of humidity and the scent of jacaranda blooms. A handful of pale stars dotted the sky, the glow of downtown beneath them like a disoriented dawn. A broken streetlight strobed from farther down the street. The Latino music persisted. Yo sufrĂ­ mucho por ti, mi corazon… Satish unlocked the car and slid behind the wheel. “Union mandated drug test. Your leave of absence from the department was longer than ninety days. Welcome back to regulations, Detective Presius.”

I made a face.

“Look at it this way. Whoever handles those cups has it way worse than you.” He started the engine and backed out of the driveway. “Shit happens, Track. Never forget that.”

“Hard to forget on days like this.”

I rolled down the window and let cool air blow in my face. The freeway droned in the distance, as another night descended upon L.A. Another murder, another killer on the loose.

It was June 2009, the beginning of summer.

Killing season had just started.





What Readers Think:




Author Bio:

E.E. Giorgi is a scientist, a writer, and a photographer. She spends her days analyzing genetic data, her evenings chasing sunsets, and her nights pretending she's somebody else. On her blog, E.E. discusses science for the inquiring mind, especially the kind that sparks fantastic premises and engaging stories. Her detective thriller CHIMERAS, a hard-boiled police procedural with a genetic twist, is now available on Amazon.

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Sunday, September 14, 2014

Big Girl Panties by Stephanie Evanovich (Audiobook)

Author: Stephanie Evanovich
Narrator: Katie Schorr
Title:Big Girl Panties
Publication: July 9, 2013
Publisher: Harper Audio
Genre: Chick Lit, Romance
Pages: 368
Length: 9.5 hours
Audience: 18 and up
Rating:  3 out of 5
Source: Public Library

Synopsis (from the cover):  Holly didn't expect to be a widow at thirty two. She also didn't expect to be so big. After her husband's death, food was the one thing she could always count on. Now, those extra pounds make flying coach feel like medieval torture- especially when she's squished next to Logan Montgomery. A personal trainer to famous pro athletes, her seatmate is so hot that he makes Holly sweat in all the right (and so embarrassingly wrong!) places.
Logan finds himself intrigues by Holly's sharp wit and keen insights, so he impulsively offers to get her back in shape. Holly turns out to be a natural in the gym, slimming down into a  bona fide looker with killer curves- and a new kind of hunger. Before either of them can stop it, the easy intimacy of their training sessions leads to even more steamy workouts away from the gym. But can a man whose whole life depends on looks commit himself to a woman who doesn't fit his ideal? Now that Holly's turning other men's heads, does she even need Logan anymore? Are they a couple built to last...or destined to fizzle? 


My thoughts:
I'm still a little unsure about this book. It seemed to do a lot of fat shaming. In my mind Holly was never obese. She was just overweight. From other reviews I read that was the main problem a lot of people had with the book. The author just did not portray overweight people properly. Some people are overweight, but are otherwise healthy people. And some people just do not care and are happy with themselves, I fall into this group. So I had a hard time sympathizing with Logan's view of Holly and sometimes Holly as well. 
Another problem that arose from the novel was the randomly changing view points. The author would flip from Logan to Holly to Amanda to Chase to Natalie to Tina except shuffle that up a bit. I didn't have a huge problem with it because the narrator, Katie Schorr did a great job of doing a distinct voice for each character. My husband listened to a little of the book with me and we both think she sounds like Rebecca Soler who narrated Cinder and Scarlet. They are both great narrators in my book.
 Even though this book had some flaws there was something about Logan and Holly's relationship that really pulled at my heart strings and made me care about the characters and even dislike a few.
Overall, this book is just a short sweet romance novel. I enjoyed it and if you are more into romance than I am, I'm sure you'll enjoy it too!

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (Audiobook)



Author: John Green 
Narrator: Jeff Woodman

Title:  An Abundance of Katherines

Publication: September 1, 2006

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Genre: Young Adult

Pages: 272

Length: 6 hours and 48 minutes

Audience: 16 and up

Rating: 1 out of 5

Source: Public Library



Synopsis (from Goodreads): Katherine V thought boys were gross

Katherine X just wanted to be friends

Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail

K-19 broke his heart

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.



On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun--but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.



My thoughts: I have heard a lot about John Green and I have purchased Fault in Our Stars, but it is currently on my bookshelf collecting dust while I’m reading six other books. So I thought I would go with an audiobook at the time because I had nothing else better to listen to and I really wanted to try a John Green book. I guess I should have not gone with An Abundance of Katherines, but our library is so underfunded, that this was my only John Green option. I kept listening to it, hoping it would get better. By the end of it I was tired of Colin Singleton, the term “fug” in any format, anagrams, and math terminology. At one point, I was almost certain that Colin had Asperger’s Syndrome. The book never mentioned it so I guess he didn't. This entire book was about him and his wants and obsessions. He never seemed to care about other people. It was annoying. However, his friend Hasan was the comedic relief, but even he got annoying at times. The other main characters were uncertain about what they wanted as well. So it was full of coming of age angst. The book was a good book about being yourself and coming of age novel. However, there was too much stupid love drama with the Katherines, whining from Colin, anagrams, and math for my taste. 
The narrator, Jeff Woodman does a great job. He does a different voice for each character. His southern accent for Hollis and Lindsay and the other residents of Gutshot is over the top, but it works. Some people really do sound the way he narrated them. I think he did a fantastic job. You can tell when Hasan is speaking or Colin or one of the many Katherines. He is a wonderful narrator, but the book was kind of poop for me. If you love John Green I suggest giving it a try, but if you are not a John Green fan, or have never read any of his books I was told to try Looking for Alaska. 

Monday, September 8, 2014

Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearne



Author: Kevin Hearne
Title:  Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1)
Publication: May 3, 2011
Publisher: Del Ray
Genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 320
Audience: 17 and up
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Purchased

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Atticus O'Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old--when in actuality, he's twenty-one "centuries" old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.
Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he's hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power--plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish--to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.



My thoughts: 
My husband pestered me until I picked up the first book and read through it. I really could not put this book down or stop laughing at it. The characters are well rounded and develop really well in this first book of the series. The main character Atticus O’Sullivan is the last of his kind. He is a real life druid and is really old…over 2000 years old in fact. He can speak to his dog, the Irish Wolfhound, Oberon, who is hilarious! There is of course Atticus’s neighbors who had a dash of humor. Oh and his lawyers, one is a vampire and the other is a werewolf. They are able to work together because they both hate Thor (I do too. He is such a drunken jerk, we aren’t talking about the Marvel Thor either.). There is plenty of laughter, drama, and mystery. If you are a fan of paranormal, urban fantasies this is a MUST read! I am trying to squeeze in time to read the next novel, Hexed, which I may do after I finish writing this. I also want to add a word about the author, Kevin Hearne. This dude is amazing. My husband reached out to him on Facebook and Kevin Hearne actually wrote him a response and thanked him for being a fan. He is so kind and he gives you information on his website on how to contact him. We have a trip planned in October to see him in Georgia for a day. I cannot wait, but now I have to read all seven of the books before then!