Category: Move Books

Arctic Chill – Arnaldur Indridason

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A freezing wind pierced Erlendur’s clothes as he stood by the swings where Elias had died, and his mind roamed over the mountains and moors to another child who had once slipped from his grasp and now followed him through life like a sad shadow 

Arctic Chill by Arnaldur  Indriðasonis the 7th book featuring Icelandic detective Erlendur Sveinsson and his colleagues Elínborg and Sigurður Óli. (It’s actually the 5th book in the series that has been translated.) From Wikipedia:

Arnaldur’s books have been published in twenty-six countries and have been translated into Russian, Polish, German, Greek, Danish, Catalan, English, Italian, Czech, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Chinese, Croatian, Romanian and French. Arnaldur received the Glass Key award, a literature prize for the best Nordic crime novel, in 2002 and 2003. He won the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger Award in 2005 for the novel Silence of the Grave.

In this installment Erlender and his collegues are called on an icy January day to a garden where a body has been found: a young, dark-skinned boy Elias is frozen to the ground in a pool of his own blood.  Elias is a ten year old boy, whose mother a native of Thailand, has married an Icelandic man and moved her family Elias and his older brother Niran to Iceland. As Erlender’s team investigates the brutal murder they uncover the racism faced by immigrants to Iceland like Elias and his family. The story is a good police procedural as Erlender,  Elínborg and Sigurður Óli try to piece together the events that led to the senseless murder. But I love this series, like many others, for the devlopment of the characters. They not only have to deal with work but their personal lives too. As  Elínborg deals with a sick child,  Sigurður Óli deals with the prospect of adopting a child and Erlender deals with the death of his long time mentor, his releationship with his adult children, and the spector of   his brother whose hand Erlender lost on the moors during a freak blizzard so many years ago.

While  I do think that you can pick up any of Arnaldur’s books and enjoy them, I think they are more enjoyable if you start at the beginning! So go find Jar City and get busy you won’t regret it!

C.J. Box – Back of Beyond

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Back of Beyond. is C.J.Box’s third stand alone thriller..It was eleased soon after the 11th Joe Pickett novel Cold Wind  (which I started a while back and didn’t finish before it was due back at the library)

What the Press Says

“…timeless…gripping…resemble(s) an Agatha Christie closed-community whodunnit but with horses, bears, wolves, and hunting rifles.””
Sunday Times (UK)

AP: “…the new book may be his best yet…a roller-coaster ride of unexpected twists and turns, making “Back of Beyond” one of the most suspenseful wilderness thrillers since “Deliverance.”
Associated Press / ABC Ne

“…a taut tale…that hooks you.”
USA Today
“If Box isn’t already on your list, put him there.”
Toronto Globe and Mail

The Story

Back of Beyond was a fast and furious ride through the back country of Yellowstone Park. The novel’s main character is Cody Hoyt a divorced, alcoholic cop thrown off the Denver Police force and now stationed in Montana.

When Coty finds his mentor from AA dead in his burned out cabin, Coty knows it’s not the accidental death it appears to be but murder!

Soon clues link the murderer to an outfitter leading tourists on a spectacular multi-day wilderness horseback trip into the remote corners of Yellowstone National Park

. Coty’s  son Justin is one of the tourist on the trip with his step-father to be! Among the tourists is fourteen-year-old Gracie Sullivan, an awkward but intelligent loner who begins to suspect that someone in their party is dangerous.

After accidentally shooting the coroner at the crime scene, Coty is suspended from the force and soon takes off on a chase to stop the tour and rescue his son from the murderer! The action is fast and furious and the book was a real page turner with lots of twists and turns.

Here’s what some folks are saying:

Final Thoughts

I agree with all of them. I’ve loved Box’s books from the first one I read ! I love the characters in this book particularly Coty and Gracie! So if C’.J.Box is not on your list of  “to be reads” put him there! I myself hope this is not a stand alone but that Coty has another adventure. Hey James Lee Burke has two main characters why not Box! Maybe Coty can meet up with Joe Pickett!

Book 24 – Fallen – Karin Slaughter

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So for seven years and six books, Karin Slaughter entertained her readers with her Grant County series, featuring Sara Linton and her husband Jeffrey Tolliver. Jeffrey was a cop and Sara a pediatrician and a medical examiner. In 2006, she started another series featuring a dyslexic Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) agent Will Trent and his partner Faith Mitchell. In 2009 the two series merged (I’m not telling why) in Undone. Book 24 for the year is the 3rd book in this series Fallen This book had me from the first page and I zipped through the book looking forward to what was going to happen next.

The story revolves around the kidnapping of Faith’s mother Evelyn Mitchell, former head of the Narcotics Division of the Atlanta Police Department and best friend of Will and Faith’s boss Amanda Wagner. I said the story got my from the first few pages that’s when Faith arrives late at her mother’s house only to pull up and hear AC/DC Back in Black blaring from the house and blood on the door handle! When she enters the house she sees it’s been trashed and blood is everywhere. There’s a dead man in the laundry room and a man with a hostage in her mother’s bedroom. Quickly things get worse as Faith kills one man and then the other as he is trying to escape! But where is her mother and why was she kidnapped!

This book is as much about the people as it is the storyline. Sara and Will, Faith and her children Jeremy and Emma, Amanda and Evelyn and their interwoven histories! It’s a story about family, and friendship and the effects of drugs. I have loved Slaughter’s books from the first one I read which was book two in the Grant County series Kisscut. That book was quickly followed by Book 1Blindsighted and all the rest and the books just keep getting better and better and I can’t wait for the 2012 edition!

Here’s an interview with Karin talking about Fallen Lena Adams was a very important and interesting character in the Grant County Series!

Darkness on the Edge of Town – J Carson Black

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Darkness on the Edge of Town- J Carson Black

So several weeks ago I was browsing the list of  Mystery and Thriller Books in the Amazon Kindle store and came across Book 1 in the Laura Cardinal series Darkness on the Edge of Town by J Carson Black.  

The author and series were  new to me but the price was right 99 cents. So having money left from the  gift card Peter  gave me for Father’s Day,  I quickly made the purchase.

What I found was a terrific read (Book 22 for 2011) and another series to follow (like I need another!) The series features Laura Cardinal a top investigator in the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) stationed in Tuscon.

From Goodreads.com………

When Arizona DPS investigator Laura Cardinal is sent to Bisbee, Arizona, to investigate the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl found in the park band shell, she knows immediately what she’s up against: a cunning sexual predator. But why is she plagued by the abduction of a schoolmate eighteen years earlier? In a runaway case that propels Laura from a lavish Tucson estate to the secretive heart of a north Florida town, she must confront the ghosts of her own past. Then another child goes missing–and Laura must race the clock to find her!

My Thoughts

I really liked this book.  I enjoyed the character of Laura Cardinal – tough when she needs to be but displaying  a tender side, too.  I thought the story line moved along well and kept the book consistently interesting. Sometimes early in the book things were a little confusing and I found myself saying who? what? But as the book progressed things became clearer.  I’m not sure what I think of the ghostly specter of Frank Endicott, who visits Laura! But I do know I’ll go back to Tuscon for another visit!

Chris Mooney – Remembering Sarah

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Thriller book cover with eerie forest

Chris Mooney’s Remembering Sarah has been on my To Be Read pile for some time now. But the other day after moving some books around it was sitting out, so after finishing, The Baxter Trust I picked it up and for a couple of days I couldn’t put it down.

The story begins when Mike Sullivan promises to take six year old daughter Sarah sledding on The Hill. When his overprotective wife Jess  hears about the outing, she tells Mike no way!

So like a good husband Mike waits until Jess leaves and then sneaks out with Sarah to the hill! At the hill, Sarah, ever the strong willed and independent girl, wants to go up the hill by herself. Mike always encouraging her independence and strong will lets her go .Then the worst happens, Sarah never comes down

! The book takes off from there as, Mike, with his marriage falling apart relentlessly searches for Sarah investigating every lead he can to find her. Mike, and everyone in town, is convinced that the Father Jonah, who has already been linked to the disappearance of three other girls is the culprit. But Jonas is dying and Mike must find out what he knows before he passes on or will lose Sarah forever!

 Amidst all this Mike is also dealing with a mother that left him when he was twelve and a criminal and abusive father, not much on his plate, huh! Like I said I just couldn’t put the book down last night until I finished!

While the blurbs on the back of books are always gushing, I thought two of them on the back of this book hit the nail on the head!

“At the core of this gut-wrenching thriller is something rare: a poignant examination of parental love and parental folly. Chris Mooney has written his finest novel and that’s saying something indeed” – Dennis Lahane

“Remembering Sarah is harrowing, gripping, haunting, gut-wrenching, beautifully written, and one of the best thrillers – maybe the best I’ve read this year” – Harlan Coben

My Thoughts

Some praise from two of my favorites! I thoroughly enjoyed the book, everything, the characters, the setting and the pace of the storyline! If you’re like me and love Harlan Coben’s standalones and Linwood Barclay’s books, you’ll love Remembering Sarah.

While I was looking up other books I’ve read by Chris Moody on Goodreads.com,  of which there is only one The Missing (Darby McCormick #1) I saw that that series is now up to Book # 4 can you say “Too Many books, not enough time!” oh well, off to the library to pick up the new Karin Slaughter novel Fallen

Post Update: Chris Monney’s Darby McCormick series sits at 8 books. The last book The Snow Girls was released in 2018. While his latest standalone Blood World was released in 2020.

The Baxter Trust – Parnell Hall – Steve Winslow He’s Funny, Too!

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The Baxter Trust - Parnell Hall

So one of my favorite mystery series is Parnell Hall’s Stanley Hasting series. Well now Mr. Hall wishes to be the “King of Kindle” and as such he has placed his books at the Kindle store at bargain prices.

In addition, he has put up a series he wrote under the name of J.P Hailey. These books feature a down on his luck lawyer, actor, and cab driver named Steve Winslow. Book 20 for 2011 is the first of these book The Baxter Trust and while it may not be  great literature, it is great fun!

The Story

The book revolves around Sheila Baxter and the trust fund set up by her grandfather a multimillionaire. The trust will make Sheila a millionaire when she turns 35 but until then she lives on the money doled out by the trustee of the Trust her Uncle Max. Sheila is currently involved in a relationship with a married man John Dutton that revolves around sex and cocaine. When John flies to Reno for a couple of days to finalize his divorce, Sheila is left on her own. When she returns to her apartment there is a note in her mailbox that says “I KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU” !( What does he know, maybe the cocaine?) The note is followed up with a phone call and soon Sheila is headed for the police station. The cops of course can’t do anything and just tell her to go home and let them know if anything else happens. Well the next day something does,  Sheila returns home after begging for some money from Uncle Max and then scoring some cocaine, only to find a man face down on the floor of her apartment with a knife from her knife rack in his back! Soon Sheila knows she needs an attorney and finds one in Steve Winslow a down on his luck attorney, actor and cab driver. Soon Steve is faced with the task of defending Sheila from a murder rap!(Niece of millionaire murders blackmailer, an open and shut case, but is it? That’s what Steve has to find out! Oh, and there is a clause in the trust that the trust is null and void and the money goes to charity if Sheila is involved in any scandal!

My Thoughts

The book was a fast read and highly entertaining. I love the character of Steve Winslow, who is a little like Stanley Hastings, but his own character! The other characters are good too and the story line has some twists and turns as Steve is hit with evidence during the trial.

So go and support Parnell Hall and help make him the “King of Kindle” and for 99 cents you can’t go wrong! As for me I think I’ll move on to Steve Winslow’s second adventure!

Live Wire – Harlan Coben

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Live Wire – Harlan Coben (Myron Bolitar #10)

 Live Wire by Harlan Coben.starts when  Suzze T a former tennis star and client visits Myron and asks him to find an anonymous Facebook member, The Facebook member  left a post questioning the paternity of her unborn child. She also wants Myron to find her husband Lex Rider. Rider is also one of Myron’s clients.He is a member of the famous rock band HorsePowe. Horsepower is  fronted by, the looks to die for, but reclusive, Gabriel Wire. Suzze tells Myron that Lex ran off after seeing the post.

When Myron finds Lex he also finds someone he wasn’t looking for: his sister-in-law Kitty Bolitar. Kitty and Myron’s brother Brad are estranged from the Bolitar family. They ran off years ago and now live a nomadic life roaming the world. As the story unwinds Myron, Kitty and Suzze and Lex’s lives becomes entwined. As everyone faces lies  they’ve told, that have upset their world! Myron is also confronted with his past and sometimes doesn’t like what he sees!

Thoughts about Live Wire

Live Wire is a fast paced read with lots of twists and turns. The conclusion left me a little misty eyed! I love the characters in the Bolitar book’s: Myron, and his best friend Win. along with his business partner Esperanza and receptionist Big Cindi. Add to these characters Myron’s parents Al and Ellen and his nephew Mickey, throw some gangsters the Ache brothers and hit man Evan Crisp, stir up their lives, and what you have is a great book. I don’t know whether you want to pick up the series at Book 10 but I think you could and still enjoy it!

The book also sets the stage for Coben’s first young adult book Shelter which will be released in September. So check it out!

As for me I’m off to the wilds of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula  via  Steve Hamilton’s new Alex McKnight novel Misery Bay. It’s the first McKnight novel since 2006’s A Stolen Season!

Book 17 – Dog On It – Spencer Quinn

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Book Number 17 is the first in a series featuring the detective duo of Chet and Bernie Little, Dog On It. Chet, the narrator of the private eye mystery, is the dog who is on it, on it being a case involving a missing fifteen year old girl, Madison Chambliss.

The story is told from the point of view of Chet and is wonderfully entertaining. Chet works along side Bernie, a small time private eye. Chet flunked out of K-9 school…(it was that incident with the squirrel at graduation, that he’ll tell us about later) and is a true dog, who loves to bark, hunts for food on the floor on  visits to suspects, hates cats and sometimes he doesn’t realize that the sound he hears is actually his tail wagging.

Throughout the book the reader never loses sight of the fact that Chet is a dog! While the story was ok and had some twists and turns and Chet had a big adventure, it was truly the characters that made the book Chet, Bernie, Suzie and all the rest! Here’s what some others say about the book:

“I love this book. I devoured it in one night. It was so much fun. It was like Phillip Marlowe working for Mma Ramotswe from the No.1 Ladies Detective agency spun by Charlotte on her beautiful web” – Cathleen Schine “Sit and stay! You’re going to love Dog on it as musch as i did, because it confirms what every dog fan has long suspected – that our dogs are not only more fun than we are, they’re smarter!” – Lisa Scottoline

I couldn’t agree more! If you’re an animal lover and love mysteries this is your book, so check it out! As for me I’m ready for book 2 in the series, Thereby Hangs a Tail! A copies checked in at the library… soon as I finish Oh, by the way Spencer Quinn is a pseudonym of author Peter Abrahams. whose novels I’ve read and enjoyed!

Sara Davidson Leap and Paul Levine Riptide

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Leap -Sara Davidson


Leap! Sara Davidson

So 2010 ends with 44 books read down the stretch I finished two books No 43 was “LEAP “What Will We Do with the Rest of Our Lives” by Sara Davidson. Conducting over 150 interviews from 2003 to 2006 Sara Davidson has crafted a book that explores what us boomers will be facing as we approach the later parts of our lives. From the dust cover ” she explores such questions as:

How does a high powered person learn to walk down the ladder gracefully?

How can women continue to bew sensual and not touch deprived?

How do we arrange to grow old with friends? (this is my favorite part the idea is that friends with lots in common will agree to live in close proximity so that they can take care of each other as we age!)

What will be the fire at the center of our lives??

Why are we still here?

The book is full of great insight and stories from folks like me and many other approaching the big 60!! It’s left me with questions and I’ll probably re-read this one next year!!

Riptide Paul Levine

Riptide – Paul Levine

Book 44 was the first book I read on my new Kindle that son three Peter and his wife Missy gave to me for Christmas “Riptide” by Paul Levine. Ok so all through this book something seemed familiar so I did a quick look back at the old Lassiter titles and didn’t see the title – the book “Slashback”, which I read in 1995 seemed to be the closest and with good reason because that was the original tilte of the book! Anyway it was a fun good read from the Amazon review:

Someone ripped off Jake Lassiter’s favorite client, octogenarian Sam Kazdoy, stealing $1.6 million in negotiable bonds. Then Jake’s old Buddy, Berto Zaldivar, a lawyer-turned-smuggler, ends up dead. The trail of clues from both crimes leads to a sinister professional windsurfer and his companion, Lila Summers, herself a champion athlete and a lethal femme fatale. Jake chases the missing money and the mysterious woman from Miami to Bimini to Maui where, in an explosive finale he learns lessons never taught on the football field or in the courtroom.

“Irreverent…genuinely clever…great fun.” – The New York Times Book Review

“Take one part John Grisham, two parts Carl Hiaasen, throw in a dash of John D. MacDonald, and voila! You’ve got Jake Lassiter.” – Tulsa Sun

So if you’ve never read a Jake Lassiter book check one out and take it from me they’re as good the second time around as the first!!!

Damaged – Alex Kava

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Damaged – Alex Kava -(Maggie O’Dell # 8)

 

Damaged – Maggie O’Dell #8 – Alex Kava

Damaged is the eighth Alex Kava novel featuring FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell, and it’s another fast, compelling read. Like many of Kava’s thrillers, it weaves elements of real-world truth into the fiction — and in this case, it drops Maggie right into the eye of a hurricane.

The Story

When a sea chest containing dismembered body parts is pulled from the Gulf of Mexico, Maggie is sent to Pensacola, Florida, to investigate.

At the same time, Dr. Benjamin Platt is called to Pensacola to help determine why young soldiers are dying after otherwise successful surgeries to repair war injuries. Maggie first met Platt while being treated for Ebola exposure in Exposed, and now they have a tentative, evolving relationship.

Adding to the chaos, a Category 5 hurricane is bearing down on the Florida coast.

Among the standout characters here are:

  • Liz Bailey, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer who recovers the chest.
  • Walter Bailey, Liz’s father, whose Coney Island canteen is a fixture on Pensacola Beach.

Thoughts on the Series

I’ve been an Alex Kava fan since A Perfect Evil, Maggie O’Dell’s debut, and every book since has been solid. The last three before Damaged — Exposed, Black Friday, and now Damaged — have tackled a wide range of threats: biological terrorism, suicide bombers, and now the grisly mystery of dismembered bodies.

While reading the series in order adds depth to Maggie’s character development and relationships, each book works well as a standalone.

If you’re looking for a smart, fast-paced thriller, pick up Damaged — or grab any Maggie O’Dell novel and enjoy the ride.