Table of Contents

I picked Breaking Wild by Diane Les Becquets up on the day that I went to pick up another book that I had requested from the library. I started to read it and I literally could not put it down until I finished it!

The Story

The book tells the story of Amy Raye Latour who on the last day of a hunting trip sets out to get her elk. Unlike her two male friends who were hunting with her, Amy was hunting with a crossbow, When her shot hits the elk but doesn’t bring it down she stalks the wounded animal over the Colorado mountains in a snowstorm – what could go wrong!

She loses her way and is lost, among the search and rescuers is Pru Hathaway  a strong woman who like Amy had come west to escape past tragedies The story alternates between Amy’s fight for survival and Pru’s  fight to find out what really happened to Amy!  

What Other Authors Thought

The following two quotes provide great comments on this stirring novel……

“The sheer force of this book lies in the force of its two main characters. These are
complicated women [who are] defined…not by their histories, their loves, their mistakes, or their suffering, but by their actions. It makes for a powerful, visceral book about the incredible human capacity to transcend the limitations imposed by our own pasts and our own fears.”
— Tana French, New York Times Bestselling author of In The Woods

“Diane Les Becquets brings to life the story of two very different and captivating women, whose worlds collide through a series of unexpected and compelling circumstances. When one goes missing in the wilderness and the other sets out to find her, the pages practically turn themselves as the reader races through this harrowing and heart-wrenching tale, determined to discover how it all turns out.”
— John Searles, New York Times Bestselling author of Help For The Haunted and Strange But True

My Thoughts

Breaking Wild is another 4,5 star book! Both of the lead characters in this book are well-drawn and strong women and the way that Ms Les Becquets presents their story is wonderful, Each chapter provides a little more information about the life of Pru Hathaway and the fate and life of Any Raye and I tell you it’s tough to put the book down, because you just need to know the final outcome!

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Links

Author’s Website
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Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon

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About Diane Les Becquets

Diane Les Becquets is the author of the national bestselling novel BREAKING WILD, published by Berkley/Penguin Random House, which was the winner of the Colorado Book Award in general fiction and the New Hampshire Outstanding Fiction Award. The novel was also shortlisted for the Reading the West Book Award in fiction and was an Indie Next Pick. For more information, visit lesbecquets.com

If You Enjoyed The Last Ranger Here’s Where My Reading Went (and Where It’s Going)…

• Nora Kelly (Preston & Child) — archaeological thrillers I’m planning to dive into, a natural next step after the dig storyline here
• Breaking Wild — Diane Les Becquets — a gripping wilderness survival story that I couldn’t put down (see my original post)
• Alice Henderson — Alex Carter series — where I’m heading next with environmental thrillers

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Back in July, I wrote a post to both remind myself and to let readers know that books from three of my favorite authors were being released in August. The three authors ,whose books were being released on August 21st, were Karin Slaughter, William Kent Krueger and Steve Hamilton.

Thanks to the post I remembered to go to my library’s website and request the books. At the end of last week, the books from William Kent Krueger and Steve Hamilton became available. My hold position for the Karin Slaughter release is 47 of 57. I guess we see who the favorite is! Folks don’t know what they’re missing out on, by not reading Krueger and Hamilton. Of course it works out well for me because I get to read the books!

Dead Man Running – Steve Hamilton

The first book I chose to read was Steve Hamilton’s Dead Man Running, book #11 in the Alex McKnight series.It ist he first McKnight book Hamilton has written in five years! In the interim, Hamilton created a new series. He has written two books in that series, The Second Life of Nick Mason and Exist Strategy. Both are great reads. You can read what I wrote about these books here and here.

Who is Alex McKnight?

Alex McKnight is an ex-Detroit police detective, who lives now in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Alex takes care of and rents four cabins that his father and her built. He has also worked as a private investigator..  Currently he is employed as a fugitive recovery agent.aka a bounty hunter.

Dead Man Running: the Story

The story opens when a couple of vacation in the Mediterranean Sea watch the security camera feed from their  home bedroom in Arizona.  They watch a stranger enter the bedroom disrobe and join the dead woman laying on their bed Soon the man is caught when he returns to the scene to be with the woman a second time. After the police had been notified.Lewis T Livermore  is caught. He confesses to killing five other women. Under questioning, he reveals that victim number seven is still out there alive. He will take them to him on one condition that Alex McKnight comes with them!!

So begins the worst nightmare of Alex’s life! As just about everything thatcould go wrong does. And Alex must chase a killer, that knows all about Alex, while Alex has no clue about his connection to the killer.

My Thoughts

There’s no doubt that once again Steve Hamilton has delivered a page-turning thriller. Hey, I read it in two days! But there were a couple of things that kept it from being a 5 out of 5 stars.

First, overall liked the fact that the story took Alex out of his element and left him on his own in Arizona, far from his Paradise , Michigan home. However, I still missed the Upper Michigan Peninsula and his usual cohorts. Jackie McLean owner of the Glasgow Inn, Vinnie LeBlanc and Leon Prucell Alex’s one-time PI partner.

Additionally, I could easily see where the connection was going to be I was just not sure what the connection was. Finally, it’s a little thing but the chase for Livermore took Alex back across the country. Along the way, Livermore Alex and FBI Agent Larkin were ambushed by Livermore. I don’t think that Alex ever questioned how Livermore knew exactly where they were??

The Bottomline

Anyway the bottom line is that the book is great. The twists and turns from the moment that Livermore leads Alex and the FBI into the canyons of Arizona through to the end kept me turning the pages at a very rapid clip!! I think the book can be read without reading the preceding books. Mainly, because of the setting and the lack of familiar people around Alex.  However, if you want a real treat find book #1 A Cold Day in Paradise and work your way through the series

Ah! I just looked over the Alex McKnight series here at Goodreads and I see that I haven’t Let It Burn book #10 in thee series. I need to read that book!

Post Update: I did read Let It Burn so I have read the whole series.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Novels of Steve Hamilton

Author’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon
Goodreads

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How to Tackle My March-April  “to be read” pile – Part 1

So over the last several weeks new books have become available at my library. As a result I have been swapping out books, returning some books read, others have been returned unread. The unread ones were returned because I know I won’t get to them now. The bottom line is I now have eight books on my “to be read” pile from the library. Here is a rundown of the books starting with the books I’m currently reading.

Currently Reading

I am currently reading two of the books. They are Cutting Edge by Ward Larsen and Dark Sky from Mike Brooks. I have previously read books from both authors.

Cutting Edge

Ward Larsen is the author of the David Slaton series which I discovered last year. I read the first three books in the series last year. Book four is scheduled to be released August 18, 2018. It’s an exciting series.So I’ll be waiting for Assassin’s Run

Cutting Edge is a stand alone thriller featuring Trey DeBolt a Coast Guard rescue swimmer who is thought to have died in a failed rescue attempt in Alaska. He was rescued and taken to a secret facility where he was operated on “to make him better”, and once again thought to be dead. But he was saved and nursed back to health by a nurse who was to take him to the morgue.

Soon though there has been an order to an assault time to take him out! And now DeBolt is on the run and the only thing he has is what they did to make him better. He now can call up any bit of information he wants and sees it in his eye!!

So far so good!

Check Out Cutting Edge at Amazon or Goodreads

Dark Sky

The second book is Dark Sky from Mike Brooks. This is the sequel to Dark Run. Publishers Weekly called Dark Run a “terrific debut”.

The series features Captain Ichabod Drift, his ship the Keiko, and his crew. In this installment Drift and his merry band of smugglers have signed on for a new smuggling job to a mining planet. Of course the seemingly easy job may not be as easy as it appears. Was there really any doubt?

SF Book Reviews writes the following about Dark Sky....

“Brook’s talent lies in his ability to create well-developed and likeable characters…Dark Sky is fantastic. It blends character and humour in an expansive and enjoyable space adventure that leaves you wanting more.”

Check Out Dark Sky at Amazon or  Goodreads

In part two of this post series I will review the other six books on my library “to be read”  pile and the order in which I may attack them!

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Assassin’s Game – Ward Larsen (David Slaton #2)

I went to the library a couple of times last week to pick up books that I had on hold. I of course had to look at the new books, while I was there. One of the new books, Assassin’s Silence by Ward Larsen caught my eye. I had never seen the book before and was unfamiliar with the author. Anyway I picked it up and read the rave reviews on the back and decided that it was my type of book!.

I discovered, when I got home, that it was only book three in the David Slaton series. I went to my library’s website and discovered that they didn’t have book one in the series but they did have book two Assassin’s Game. One of the copies that they had was an e-book. That was fine with me. It saved me a trip to the library! It  also meant that I could start it quicker! So start it I did and it was a real page-turner for me! I loved the book and finished it in a couple of days!

About Ward Larsen

Since the release of The Perfect Assassin in 2004. Ward Larsen has released seven more novels. Two of those Stealing Trinity and The Messenger are stand alone thrillers. Of the remaining five books, three are part of the Jammer Davis and two are part of the David Slaton series. Jammer Davis is an aircraft accident investigator and of course David Slaton is an assassin.

Ward Larsen is  former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Larsen flew over twenty missions in  Operation Desert Storm. He has served as a federal law enforcement officer, airline captain, and is a trained aircraft accident investigator. Larsen is also a three-time winner of the
Florida Book Award. And I better get started on The Perfect Assassin because it is currently being adapted into a major motion picture by Amber Entertainment!

About Assassin’s Game

David Slaton is a kidon or assassin for Israel’s Mossad. In Assassin’s Game, Slaton is brought back into the game by Mossad. His target is an Iranian scientist who is one the verge of providing Iran a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile. Mossad has made several attempts to kill the scientist, but they are thwarted each time, by Iranian intelligence. Because they fear there is a traitor supplying Iran information about the hits, a decision to go outside their service is made. Since the world thinks that David Slaton is dead he is the perfect choice for the assignment.

But David is living a quiet life in the Virginia suburbs. He has a new wife and is adjusting nicely to that life. After David’s ex-Mossad boss’s meeting with David’s wife in Sweden, ends in a shoot out and David’s wife’s disappearance, David is forced back into the game, to save his wife and to keep the bomb from Iran. The shoot-out in Stockholm left his boss in a coma and several agents dead. And it put a Swedish police detective on David’s trail!

Bottom Line:

Assassin’s Game was a terrific page-turner! I loved all of the well-drawn characters. David Slaton and Swedish detective Arne Sanderson are both characters that you could root for! The storyline was superb. with some twists and turns that I didn’t see coming!! It kept me guessing right up until the final pages. Bravo Mr. Larsen!

It’s been many years since I read Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal, but I agree with Stephen Coonts who wrote…..

“Ward Larsen has written a stunning thriller, one that ranks right up there with The Day of the Jackal. Frankly, this is the best nail-biting suspense novel I’ve read in years.”

So Check it Out! As for me I can’t wait to get started on some of Larsen’s other books. I already have Assassin’s Silence checked out of the library now. So I can I can start that right away, while I’m searching for those Jammer David books!!

Book 13 for 2017 – Rating: **** (five-stars)

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Ward Larsen

Author’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon

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