Kindred in Death by JD Robb

ISBN:  9780399155956

Publisher:  Penguin Group

Rating:  A

With 29 books in this series you would think that it would get old, but it just doesn’t.  This series is intense and the characters so full of life that it feels like you are visiting with old friends every time you open up a new “In Death” book.

Kindred in Death has Eve investigating the brutal rape and murder of a cop’s 16 year old daughter.  Captain MacMaster’s requests that it be Eve who investigates the murder of his daughter Deena, which adds another level to the responsibility Eve feels to all the victim’s she helps find justice for, but will this be the case that breaks the reserve that Eve has built up?

This is one of my favorite series ever written, and it is hard to be objective about it because the characters are what drive me to continue to read it.  While the plots are intense and sharp, I get lost in the characters.  Eve is a juxtaposition of elements and she continues to evolve.  She has always been on my top 10 list of best heroine’s ever written and with each new addition to this series, she climbs up the rankings a bit further.

If you are a fan of strong female characters and well thought out plots with slightly more interesting twists, I suggest reading the in Death series and starting with NAKED IN DEATH which is the first in the series.  And I envy all of those who will begin their friendship with these characters soon.

Branded by Fire by Nalini Singh

ISBN:  9780425226735

Publisher:  Penguin Group USA

Rating:  A

DarkRiver Sentinel Mercy and SnowDancer Lieutenant Riley have always ruffled each other’s fur, but it seems to extend deeper than the normal fight for dominance.   When what has always been a slight annoyance turns into a passion neither can ignore, they must decide if their’s is a bond for life and what that will mean for their respective packs.

This was truly an interesting installment into the Psy/Changeling series by Nalini Singh.  I don’t think I was prepared for how intricate this series would become and how captivated I am by the politics and the life that Singh infuses into these stories.  In my opinion there currently is no other paranormal author out there that can even come close to the depth Singh brings.  Even though this series is incredibly dynamic I do not feel like Singh gets lost in the detail, I think she brings a harmonious balance to both plot and character.

JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series is close, but I don’t find myself as interested in the part of her books that contain the Lesser’s, however in the Psy/Changeling series I am interested in all facets of the storyline and I am always left wanting more.

I cannot wait to get my greedy little hands on the next installment that just came out.

Heat Wave by Richard Castle

ISBN:  9781401323820

Publisher:  Hyperion

Rating:  B

Jameson Rook, pulitzer prize winning journalist, is writing an article about homicide detectives.  In the midst of his research he is paired with a team of detectives led by Nikki Heat, and he has the pleasure of following them investigate the murder of Matthew Starr.

This book is hard to explain if you have never seen the ABC TV show Castle.  Here’s the short:  Rick Castle is a famous novelist of a long running series, Derek Storm, until one day he decides to kill off his lead character.  Imagine the shock of his long time fans, which includes the Mayor of New York. Castle decides he wants to research more and find a new muse so using his friendship with the major gets added to a Homicide team with lead Detective Beckett, Kate Beckett that is and thus Nikki Heat was born.  In a storm of marketing genius, IMO, Rick Castle a fictional author writes a real book about his experience with Detective Beckett.  Season two of the TV show has hints of what is in the book and had me running out to buy it as soon as I knew it was published.

While on the shorter side this book shouldn’t have taken me as long to read it and when I made time to read it I plowed right through it.  I had a hard time putting the voices with the characters because I couldn’t connect them right away to the characters on TV.  While written similarly to the show, the books characters had their own voice and once I allowed myself to recognize that I was pretty happy.

The plot was more intricate than I would have expected with such a short book, and that was a very pleasant surprise.  It was well thought out and well executed.

As a whole I thought HEAT WAVE was written well and showed great potential.  The characters are still on the 2 dimensional side, but that grows and if the team that wrote this continues in the same vane, I will definitely be catching up with Rook and Heat on their next adventure.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

ISBN:  9780385504225

Publisher:  Knopf Doubleday Publishing

Rating:  C

I have to say that as a fan of Robert Langdon and Dan Brown I was quite disappointed with this latest effort into a well written series.  THE LOST SYMBOL is not an accurate depiction of what they were searching for, in my opinion.   I feel like Brown was trying to capitalize on his previous success and wrote a sub standard book that could possibly have destroyed any desire for me to read any additional adventures of Robert Langdon.

The plot seemed forced at the end and the reveal of what was the whole point of the book didn’t feel like it was important.   It seemed to be an afterthought and that made it difficult for me to read it.  I skimmed the reveal of what was truly lost, I never skim a book EVER and this I skimmed.  It should have been a huge part of the book but it mattered nothing to me.

I loved the book up until I realized I was right about Mal’akh and then it went down hill from there.  I have a friend who kept wanting to discuss this book with me, and I am afraid that she’ll be a bit disappointed with my feelings now that I have finished it.  Typically when reading a Dan Brown book there is so much left unknown until the end that you can’t decide if you like it until you’ve finished it.  However, now I am a bit sad with how THE LOST SYMBOL played out.

Gone went the brilliance of THE DA VINCI CODE.

Killer Hair by Ellen Byerrum

ISBN:  9780451209481

Publisher:  Penguin Group USA

Rating:  A

Lacey Smithsonian is a hard driving crime reporter, Crimes of Fashion is her game.  Living in the land of the female helmet hair has given Lacey a plethora of tools to fight these crimes with, but when an apparent suicide smells distinctly like murder Lacey gets in over her head and fast.

I picked up this series because I got involved in the Lifetime movie of this series and I didn’t realize they were books, so being that the written word is my favorite medium of entertainment, I of course had to start at the beginning and to be introduced to Lacey properly.  I’m glad that I decided to pick up this series of books and to build my own relationship with the characters and the author.   I look forward to a long adventure together.

Lacey is a little bit of every woman I know; insecure and secure, smart, sassy, and real.  Byerrum spent a lot of time expressing Lacey’s feelings with words, and my hope is that as this series progresses, Lacey’s feelings will be portrayed and understood without the definition.  I believe that both the character and the author have the potential and I can’t wait to see it realized.

I typically know who the criminal is by the middle of the book, and I am pleased to say that I was a bit wishy washy as far as whodunit, but I was on the right trail.  I just kept bouncing between 2 characters and it turns out they were tied together, but only one was responsible.  I enjoy when an author can make me doubt my choices because it sometimes makes for a more interesting read.

I look forward to many more Crimes of Fashion with Lacey and her motley crew.

Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

ISBN:  9780451462800

Publisher:  Penguin Group USA

Rating:  B-

Jane Yellowrock is a the last of her kind, a skinwalker.  However, she cannot define what that truly is.  Inside of her lives and independent personality of Beast, who is a part of her, but did not start out that way.  Jane is hired by Katherine Fontaneau one of the eldest vampires in New Orleans to hunt the Rogue Vampire that is wreaking havoc on their lives and the lives of the local police.  Jane takes no time in making it clear that she is not a fan of Vampires, not even civlized ones.  Will she learn to trust those she hunts in order to save herself and others from this horrible Vampire?

I had a hard time with this book.  It felt like the author had so many ideas and shoved them into one book.  There never felt like there was one true point to the story or to the start of this series.  While I can understand wanting to put everything in, I feel like SKINWALKER would have been better if we were allowed to see one part of the story completely develop.

Having said that I will read more of this series because I am curious to see where it leads.  There was just enough development for me to want to know what happens next.    There are so many possibilities, and that is interesting to me as a reader.

Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

ISBN:  9780312383282

Publisher:  St Martin’s Press

Rating:  A

What can I say?  Another visit to the ‘Burg has come and gone, and I already miss that band of unruly bond enforcement agents.  Being that I am HUGE Ranger fan, FINGER LICKIN’ FIFTEEN was a much needed addition to my collection, but it just is never enough.

In this installment, Lula witnesses a murder and is being stalked by 2 very inept killers.  Stephanie has to stay with Ranger because Joe and her are fighting and Lula snores like a trucker, and Ranger hires Stephanie to figure out who is burglaring his customers making him look like the fool.

There was a little bit of something for everyone in FINGER LICKIN’ FIFTEEN and I am curious to see what else can happen.  There are those who are done reading this series, feeling like it is going no where and will continue down that path to nothing.  However, for me as a reader, I love this series.  It is because of the combination of Stephanie and Evanovich that I am the reader I am today.  They inspired enjoyment out of my reading and have kept me spoiled ever since my first introduction to them in ONE FOR THE MONEY.

I will always love this series for the shear fact, that it was my first.

Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell

ISBN:  9780451227454

Publisher:  Penguin Group USA

Rating:  A

Lily Ivory is a natural witch who tends to hide her heritage.  When she was young and didn’t understand her power she used to cause problems for those who teased or made fun of her.  She spent most of her life hiding her reality while reveling in the history of the clothes she sells in her Vintage Clothing store.  Lily has spent most of her life flitting from one place to another without setting any roots, however when she follows the signs to San Francisco she finds that a family is not always something you are born into, it just is.   Follow Lily as she learns she is exactly the right person at exactly the right place, and finds out she is stronger than she ever knew.

Blackwell wrote amazingly 3 dimensional characters in paranormal fiction world, and vampires weren’t even included.  It is obvious that she has lived her characters history or researched the subject matter of witches in large detail.  I found the blend of personal struggles and paranormal struggles to be the perfect brew.  There wasn’t an overuse of the magical elements, but you always knew they were available should they be required.

There was a slight romantic element in this first book and I hope that the next installment to be released in June 2010 will bring more life to the romance and more life to the characters.  I love it when I can find a new series to capture my heart.

You’ve Got Murder by Donna Andrews

ISBN:  9780425189450

Publisher:  Penguin Group USA

Rating:  B

When I began reading You’ve Got Murder I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to finish it.   Being such a character driven reader I wasn’t sure how I was going to like an Artificial Intelligence Personality being my lead character, however Turing Hopper showed her “humanity” through out the story.

Turing’s programmer Zach has gone missing and she notices and enlists the aid of two human co-workers, Tim and Maude,  to help her do the physical “looking” for Zach.  However, what none of them know is that there are some truly evil guys looking for Zach as well and are now on the trail of Tim and Maude.

Although Andrews did a wonderful job of creating the character of Turing and making her more human than I originally thought, the book and the plot were rather dry and bare.  I didn’t truly feel any edge of my seat excitement or thrills that in my opinion should have been a part of this story.  The plot line was clever and could have gone many different ways, however it went as expected and truly didn’t give me anything special.  While I may go and read more in this series I am not begging to have them right now.

Cherry Bomb by JA Konrath

ISBN:  9781401302818

Publisher:  Hyperion

Rating:  B

I was very upset with the ending of  FUZZY NAVEL, it was the epitome of a cliff hanger ending, and I am glad that CHERRY BOMB relieved me of that feeling of intense hatred towards JA Konrath and his evil evil plot to make me suffer.  I do know that I was not alone in my feelings after FUZZY NAVEL, but I am not as clear if I will be alone in how I felt after CHERRY BOMB.

Jack vs Alex ultimately who will survive this battle.  Alex is back to haunting Jack and killing the people who matter most to her.  It’s a game of cat and mouse and Jack better learn how to be the cat otherwise she’ll lose everyone.  She’s officially off the Alex Kork case, but she refuses to be taken out and keeps evidence from her Brothers in blue.  Is Jack sliding down that slippery slope that she will never be able to come back from?  We’ll have to see.

Now on to how I really feel about CHERRY BOMB and the demise of one of my favorite characters.

**** SPOILERS ARE COMING I CAN’T HELP IT****

Since we learn that it was Latham who Jack loses at the end of FUZZY NAVEL, I am not saddened by this loss.  He was an afterthought character, one that didn’t matter to me as a reader.  It was sad for Jack, but other than that it didn’t impact me as much as say reading 3RD DEGREE by James Patterson and having it change the core of the stories forever.  Latham passing won’t have any lasting effects on me.  However, Jack’s lack of moral compass in CHERRY BOMB I think might have me questioning if I will read the next book, IF there is a next one.  It’s a kind of ambiguous ending and I am not sure what will come of it.  I’ve always been impressed by Jack Daniels and her center, she was always a strong fiesty kick ass cop who I loved from the first WHISKEY SOUR, but she was definitely lacking in most of those areas in this book.  Her fiance is dead, and she sleeps with the sexy bank robber.  WHAT?  Really?  All the things that happen in this book feel hypocritical to me as the reader and that just pisses me off.

Is Jack over?  I usually request a double shot, but now I’m kind thinking that Jack Daniels burned me a little too much this time around.