Book Reviews | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

THE TRAP by L.J. Sellers

February 13, 2015

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The Agent Dallas Thrillers (Book 3)

While skydiving with an adventure group, FBI Agent Jamie Dallas overhears plans to carry out criminal acts against a politician. The bureau sends Dallas to infiltrate the activists, but to get inside the tight-knit clan, Dallas makes dangerous compromises and starts to sympathize with their cause. She ends up so deep undercover she can’t make contact with the bureau.

Across town, a Washington DC detective investigates a death that looks like a simple “hooker homicide.” But as Detective Larson peels away the layers, she uncovers something far more sinister, something deeply connected to a high-profile judge’s death.

Meanwhile, working against her own conscience, Agent Dallas struggles to gather evidence and push the activist group toward the major takedown the FBI has orchestrated. But inside the group’s safe house, another imposter lurks, and when the real motive surfaces, Dallas is caught in a cunning trap that will make her both a victim and a killer.

Can’t beat L. J. Sellers for twists and turns.

2/15 Jack Quick

THE TRAP by L.J. Sellers. Spellbinder Press (December 10, 2014). ISBN: 978-0984008698. 258p.

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TRIGGER WARNING by Neil Gaiman

February 12, 2015

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SHORT FICTIONS AND DISTURBANCES

Fans of the fantastical and horrific, take note: Neil Gaiman’s latest collection is an absolute must have. Trigger Warning features twenty-four pieces from the author ranging from poetry and folklore to Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who.

A few of the pieces are new to the collection, including “Black Dog” a somewhat creepy tale featuring Shadow Moon of American Gods, but many of the tales – “The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains…,” “A Lunar Labyrinth,” and “A Calendar of Tales” – to name a few, have appeared elsewhere and are collected here together for the first time.

A few of my personal favorites are the abovementioned “Black Dog” and “A Calendar of Tales,” which stemmed from a project/partnership with Blackberry. “Nothing O’Clock,” featuring Matt Smith’s Doctor Who, the kind of terrifying “Click-Clack the Rattlebag,” and “Adventure Story” round out my top five.

Trigger Warning is a pretty amazing collection all told, one that’s sure to please longtime fans but will also serve as a great introduction to Gaiman’s phenomenal scope and talent.

2/15 Becky LeJeune

TRIGGER WARNING: SHORT FICTIONS AND DISTURBANCES by Neil Gaiman. William Morrow (February 3, 2015). ISBN: 978-0062330260. 352p.

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FEAR THE DARKNESS by Becky Masterman

February 11, 2015

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This is the second book I’ve read this year in which the main character starts acting all crazy and appears to have been drugged or poisoned. I loved Jane Green’s version, Saving Grace, but this plot line irritated me here.

That said, I think Masterman has created one of the most unique protagonists in a long time, and I adore her. Brigid Quinn is a 59 year-old retired F.B.I. agent who can kick ass, and as I approach that age I really appreciate reading about a character that strong at that age. Her first book, Rage Against the Dying, was terrific if a bit of a stretch (a former F.B.I. agent kills a man in self defense and doesn’t report it? Really?)

This time out Brigid’s sister passes away, and her niece, Gemma-Kate, comes to live with her and her ex-priest husband, neither of whom has any experience with children. Gemma-Kate is a piece of work, but needs to stay with her aunt to establish residency for college. When one of Brigid’s beloved pugs gets poisoned by a toad, Gemma-Kate may be responsible, and things go down hill from there.

Brigid’s best friend Mallory, (the first time in her life that she’s had a best girlfriend,) isn’t exactly like her. While Brigid loves to go hiking, Mallory loves to go shopping but they both like the lunches served with lots of wine. Mallory’s husband suffers from locked-in syndrome; he was in a car that was hit by a train and the only movement he can make is to blink his eyes. Mallory has turned their home into a virtual hospital, and her time with Brigid is often the highlight of her day.

Brigid is working part time as a private investigator. When a local teenage boy dies under suspicious circumstances, the mother asks her to look into it. There are other storylines going on and eventually they all intersect, but Masterman excels at misdirection and the ending is quite a shocker.

2/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

FEAR THE DARKNESS by Becky Masterman. Minotaur Books (January 20, 2015). ISBN 978-0312622954. 336p.

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CRAZY LOVE YOU by Lisa Unger

February 10, 2015

Ian is an overweight, very unhappy little boy growing up in The Hollows, a small town in upstate New York that is as creepy as it sounds, where people know how to keep secrets. His mother has killed his baby sister during a severe bout of postpartum depression, and spends the rest of her life in an institution. He grows up bullied and prone to bouts of explosive anger, and his only solace is a young girl named Priss, who shows up in his yard one day and befriends him – and defends him.

Fast forward to Ian’s successful life as a graphic artist in New York City, where he is struggling with drugs and alcohol and a toxic relationship with Priss. Then he meets Megan, a young woman from a fine family, and they fall in love.

Ian wants to be a better person for Megan, and he decides to stop using drugs with her urging. Megan also wants to meet Priss, but Ian can’t let that happen. Priss is very jealous, and keeps moving in and out of his life, leaving all sorts of damage in her wake.

As the story weaves back and forth between his childhood and his adulthood, his relationships with Megan and with Priss, the story becomes more entangled and more riveting. Is Priss real, imaginary, or a ghost? Does Ian have anger issues, flying into rages and blacking out in the process, or is Priss doing all the damage?

This is a complex, intricate story yet the pages fly by as Ian, the most unreliable narrator since Nick Dunne in Gone Girl, leads us on a wild ride in this superb psychological thriller. Unger is at the top of her game here.

2/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

CRAZY LOVE YOU by Lisa Unger. Touchstone (February 10, 2015). ISBN 978-1451691207. 352p.

5 Comments | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Thriller | Permalink
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THE GIRL ON A TRAIN by Paula Hawkins

February 9, 2015

The latest buzz book is Hawkins’ debut thriller and frankly, that’s why I read it. To be honest, I felt like it was my professional responsibility to read it since my library patrons are all asking about it, other wise I never would have finished it.

In a word, it’s weird.

The unreliable narrator surged in popularity with Gone Girl – and just a caveat here, I tried to read the Flynn book on three separate occasions and just could not get past the first 40 pages. So I am not the one to do any comparisons there but rather I’m just repeating the oft told comparison in every other review.

That said, Train has a cast of several unreliable characters and the story switches viewpoints among most of them. Rachel is the girl on the train and she is a drunk with blackout issues. She rides the train to London back and forth each day imagining the lives of a couple she names “Jess and Jason.”

Anna is married to Rachel’s ex and understandably no love is lost between them. When Anna’s neighbor Megan goes missing and later is found dead, more details start emerging, and Megan is yet another voice we hear from. Megan turns out to be “Jess” and of course her controlling husband is the first suspect. She lived a few houses down from Rachel’s ex and his new wife, Anna, and there are lots of confrontations between Anna and Rachel.

I had a hard time relating to any of these characters and didn’t really care what happened to any of them. I started to like the book more than three quarters of the way through. That said, I really liked the ending.

2/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE GIRL ON A TRAIN by Paula Hawkins. Riverhead Hardcover (January 13, 2015). ISBN 978-1594633669. 336p.

9 Comments | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Humor, Mystery | Permalink
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WOULDN’T IT BE DEADLY by D. E. Ireland

February 8, 2015

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Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins Mystery

If you, like me, enjoyed every minute of My Fair Lady (or Pygmalion for the intellectuals), this is a must read.

Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins are still at odds and Liza goes to work for “that Hungarian” who was Higgins main competitor. Now Emil Nepommuck is dead and Eliza and Professor Higgins must work together to clear Higgins who is a prime suspect in the Hungarian’s death.

To say more would spoil the read, but suffice it to say everyone is there is one way or another. Enjoy.

2/15 Jack Quick

WOULDN’T IT BE DEADLY by D. E. Ireland. Minotaur Books (September 23, 2014). ISBN: 978-1250049353. 336p.

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LONG WAY DOWN by Michael Sears

February 7, 2015

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Michael Sears worked on Wall Street for 20 years and is therefore more than qualified to bring us a novel involving white collar crime in the financial world. His main protagonist, Jason Stafford, has appeared in two previous thrillers and is presented as a person with flaws but very well equipped to work on problems associated with the complex world of high finance.

Jason served two years in prison for insider trading while working for a Wall Street firm. Now, not able to return to his trade, he is dedicating himself to helping others who find themselves involved with problems within his previous field. Stafford is a complex individual fleshed out very well by Sears. He is a single father raising an autistic son and involved with a woman he is falling in love with while attempting to rebuild a life changed radically by prison time.

Philip Haley, an engineer whose company is close to developing a biofuel breakthrough, has been indicted for insider trading based on the projected increased value to be derived by the development. He asks Jason to help him prove his innocence and convinces him that the accusation is false. Stafford does take the case and finds himself involved not only with a white collar criminal accusation, but with murder and hit men attempting to do so.

Sears is extremely good at fleshing out his characters and allowing the reader to see them as human beings that are real and react to situations as most normal people would. He holds the reader’s attention by building towards a logical climax. The one flaw that I noticed is the use of overlong descriptions of various details which are extraneous to the plot and not essential in moving the action forward. While the novel has an overage of these details they should not cause the reader to lose interest in the action. An interesting and basically well written book, excellent characterizations, and one that delves into a world that most of us know little about but with descriptions that do allow the reader to understand what is involved.

2/15 Paul Lane

LONG WAY DOWN by Michael Sears. Putnam Adult (February 5, 2015). ISBN: 978-0399166716. 352p.

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DESPERATE GAMES by Pierre Boulle

February 5, 2015

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Pierre Boulle, noted author of books like The Bridge on the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes, passed away in 1994. Among his other works is a dystopian science fiction novel of a world controlled by pure scientists translated and recently reissued.Dys

Boulle postulates scientists from all over the world getting together and deciding that all the problems that exist on earth are due to leaders who do not understand what they are doing, that they are men and women with no grounding in science and lack the perspective of what people really need. The physical scientists propose that they take over all governments on earth and have the current leaders step down and just enjoy life without the stress of governing.

Said and done, the scientists quickly choose a president by a method of formal testing, along with advisers and other officers. All governments are disbanded and countries are consolidated into a world wide organization. The scientists begin working on eradicating the pressures of disease, strife and conflict quickly allowing all mankind to work less and have more.

The required workday is cut to about 2 hours with plenty of time for recreation and rest. The new leaders, the physical scientists, believe that they have achieved the optimum conditions for all the planet’s inhabitants and everyone is happy with the new status quo.

In a short time it is noted that the rate of suicides has gone up and it is quickly determined that these are due to the lack of challenges for the people. The scientists decide that they will provide games to entertain similar to those held in the ancient world, namely fights to the death between trained individuals. This works for a short time until the rate of suicides again climbs.

The answer, of course, is to increase the participation and number of fatalities in the games. Continuing on to staging great battles based on real incidents fought throughout history, namely massive assaults such as the D-Day invasion of Normandy and the world war I battle of the Marne.

While the tone of the book is tongue in cheek and has some similarities to Animal Farm, it can also be taken as a serious condemnation of allowing any group to achieve absolute power without normal checks and balances. It was true while Boulle was alive, and just as true today where philosophies of one group are forced on others causing strife and war. If the book had received more publicity at the time Boulle wrote it it has the potential to be part of works like 1984 and Animal Farm and taken it’s place as a classic example of power run amok.

2/15 Paul Lane

DESPERATE GAMES by Pierre Boulle. Hesperus Press (January 1, 2015). ISBN: 978-1843915355. 208p.

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A DOG GONE MURDER by Elaine Viets

February 4, 2015

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Josie Marcus Mystery Shopper (Book 10)

Josie has come a long way in this series, from struggling single mom renting her mother’s downstairs apartment to happily married to veterinarian Ted, living in their own home, a mid-century modern cottage. But she’s still mystery shopping, which I always find fascinating, maybe because I’ve been on the other side of the counter. When I worked for Borders Books & Music we were mystery shopped on a monthly basis, and people lost their jobs over those reports – or were rewarded!

Josie’s weaselly boss asks her to check out three local doggie day care centers that are seeking accreditation. This behind the scenes look at these establishments will hopefully give dog owners the gumption to look around themselves before dropping off their pets.

But it wouldn’t be a mystery without a murder, and sure enough Josie finds the popular Uncle Bob’s Doggy Day Camp local television spokesperson/celebrity, Uncle Bob himself, dying in his office. Is it natural causes brought on by a high meat diet or did someone poison Uncle Bob? There are lots of suspects, all his employees have issues with the man and he and his wife are separated.

Josie continues her mystery shopping assignment but when her mom’s new renter and possible love interest is arrested for the murder, Josie has to help out and find the real killer.

I love this series and this latest mystery is a good one – I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting. Viets creates believable characters, both good and bad, and I find myself thinking about them long after I turn the last page. Another winner from one of my favorite authors.

2/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

A DOG GONE MURDER by Elaine Viets. Signet (November 4, 2014). ISBN 978-0451465986. 304p.

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Win THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah

February 3, 2015

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I loved this book so much that I want one lucky reader to get a free copy! Read on for my review and how you can enter to win.

This was quite a departure for Hannah, who typically writes really good stories about contemporary women’s lives. This time she starts out that way, but quickly goes back in time to 1939 France as the war is getting underway.

Sisters Isabelle and Viann have lost their mother, and their father, damaged from World War I, can’t deal with his loss and his daughters so he sends them away. Isabelle is rebellious and gets kicked out of one boarding school after another, until she’s sent to live with her older sister Viann and her husband. Things don’t work out there and the sisters part ways. But when Viann’s husband goes off to war, eighteen year old Isabelle is sent back to stay with her sister again.

Isabelle wants to be involved in the war effort, but not in a typical-of-the-time way of rolling bandages. When she meets Gäetan, a partisan rebel, she falls in love and wants to go off with him to fight, but he sneaks away, leaving her angry, frustrated and heartbroken. As the Nazis move in to France, the country is divided in two, the Nazi occupied territory, and the Free Zone under Vichy government. The sisters’ small town is taken over by Nazis, and one is billeted in their home.

Isabelle joins the Resistance movement at great personal risk. Her exploits become legendary as eventually she leads downed British and American airmen out of France, walking them across the mountains into Spain and freedom. She becomes known as the Nightingale.

Meanwhile, back at home, Viann’s best friend Rachel is Jewish, and we all know what happens there. She begs Viann to take her baby boy, and as dangerous as it is, Viann acquiesces. Then another Jewish friend is being taken away, and leaves her son as well. Viann knows she can’t keep another Jewish child, so she approaches the Mother Superior at the local convent orphanage, and they take the child. They decide there will be more Jewish children to be saved, and eventually Viann saves several more.

The story moves occasionally back to contemporary times, when one of the sisters is being moved to a nursing home by her son, a doctor, who knows nothing of his mother and her sister’s past – and, in a brilliant stroke on Hannah’s part, we don’t know which sister she is.

This was a completely mesmerizing story, a female side of the war that isn’t often explored. I was totally immersed in their world, and often brought to tears. It is a difficult subject, and the brutality and violence is not whitewashed at all, but is necessary to the story. I have read a lot of Holocaust fiction and this was one of the more interesting, unusual and compelling books on the subject. This strong, well written feminist historical fiction is simply not to be missed. It is sure to make my favorite list for 2015.

To win your own copy, please send an email to contest@gmail.com with “WIN NIGHTINGALE” as the subject.

You must include your snail mail address in your email.

All entries must be received by February 20, 2015. One (1) name will be drawn from all qualified entries and notified via email. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age in the United States only. Your book will be sent by the publisher, St. Martins Press.

One entry per email address. Subscribers to the monthly newsletter earn an extra entry into every contest. Follow this blog to earn another entry into every contest. Winners may win only one time per year (365 days) for contests with prizes of more than one book. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone.

1/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah. St. Martin’s Press (February 3, 2015). ISBN 978-0312577223. 448p.

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