Dan Petrosini
Thank goodness Joe makes the sun rise every morning. I thought he was smug but his arrogance and giant ego get in the way of whatever value information he tries to convey. He also talks about his kids and hopes to give them values but I wonder how they will learn from all the cursing and sexual references in his ‘writing'. Tough to believe but he has a bigger ego than obama.
Stuart Neville's latest in the Belfast Novels series is called Those We Left Behind.
Naturally set in Belfast, the dark tale opens with Ciaran Devine being released from prison for a highly publicized murder he was charged with as a 12 year old. His brother Thomas, was also incarcerated for his connection to the crime but received a shorter sentence and had been already freed from custody.
Ciaran claimed he killed his foster parent to protect Thomas who was being abused by the foster father. The real facts are unknown as Ciaran is controlled by his older brother to such a degree that Ciaran is barely able to function without Thomas.
On the day of his release his probation officer, Paula Cunningham, drops him off at a halfway house unaware that the Daniel Rolston, son of the murdered father is keeping track of him.
Officer Flannagan who originally investigated the murder is drawn back in when the brothers cross paths with the Daniel. DCI Serena Flannagan, undergoing a personal health struggle which impacts her marriage has, to say the least, an unconventional relationship with Ciaran.
Neville has drawn a dark picture of Belfast during the period known as the Troubles. He leads the reader through a series of turns, never revealing too much at one time. At times unsettling, Those We Left Behind is a good read.
A good read on the dark subject of abduction. It explores the seemingly inconceivable phenomenon that someone kidnapped can have feelings for their captor and the hold the kidnapper develops over his/her prey. Nicely paced story and fairly believable.
Excellent plot and execution by a master! The way she builds the tension is simply awe inspiring.
This was a re-read for me and I'm glad i re-visited it. A must read
Captured immediately by the book's premise, i slowly lost interest. much too meandering and useless back story. It also completely lost any semblance of reality and though i struggled to get to the end, i gave up at 85%.
Solid story by Adrian McKinty. It did have a bit more back story than necessary but good, twisting plot. I would add that the second half-ish of the book seemed to be written by a different person. I wonder if he set story down for a while and came back to it?
Very slow read. No action or virtually none and the book dragged on and on and on...
I enjoyed this book. A fresh setting with clarity, I know some have said it meanders too long but I didn't think so. my only critique wd be occasionally things or dialogue came out of nowhere or out of character
I'm a Nesbo fan and this was dark as usual. I think the best thing about the book was the pacing. It was an exceptionally quick read with a couple of unexpected twists.
Always enjoy Grisham, this tome bit different as no courtroom drama in it. enjoyed it though a bit far fetched and predictable
Nesbo back in top form! Enjoyed the plot and the building suspense. A fan of Nesbo i was disappointed with last book of his and super happy with this one.
Vonnegut satires man and his obsessions and believes. A fast read, entertaining but certainly weird. If you a Vonnegut fan or satire fan you will love this.
McEwan hits the nail on the head narrating as a female (seems to me as a male!) a tough thing to do indeed. An interesting plot with a few twists and turns keep you glued till the surprising end
Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis are back in Motive,Jonathan Kellerman's latest in the Delaware series.
This new story opens with Milo stymied over a murder investigation that's run straight into a wall. While commiserating with Delaware over the unsolved death a
woman is found shot to death in a parking lot.
The pair check out the scene of the puzzling death but clues are in short supply. Sturgis and Delaware investigate, pursuing their mutual suspicions but the new case also goes cold, frustrating the pair.
Ready to move on despite their frustration, a weird piece of evidence surfaces in the second corpse's home, seeming to link the two cold cases. As they pursue leads the dead bodies continue to pile up and the connections between the stiff's leads the pair of investigators to pursue a serial killer. They focus on a couple of suspects with Delaware making logical, psychopathic explanations that make a case against each suspect.
When one of their main suspects ends up dead, Delaware and Sturgis fiquire out who the serial killer was and how he was related to the others.
Motive is set mainly in Los Angeles proper and the setting is sometimes brought to life, such as the hills of LA and wierd CD store but but other times it is just a backdrop. The clever plot unfolds as strings of evidence pointing each suspect are made, broken, re-weaved and strengthened, leaving the reader to bounce from target to target for the perpetrator. As readers of the Delaware series are aware, Kellerman reinforces a reader's guessing game with the banter between Alex and Milo. Its moves the story along and misdirects the reader with their plausible rationalizations of scenarios.
Kellerman really knows how to develop a line of questions to probe into a crime and his dialogue is simply stellar in Motive.
I liked the way Kellerman uses his skillful character development to demonizing a suspect for a period and then yanks them back to being sympathetic.
What I find distracting is the over describing of persons and places that do not add to or move the story. I did enjoy the read it was fast paced and entertaining.
Good story from Robinson. The plot was a bit too far ranging and confusing at times as were the number of characters to keep track of. Good but misses great.
Excellent writing by Pollock about a bunch of depraved, depressing people and places. He nails the characters on the head.
Better than i expected. a quick read but way too wordy, no need, in my opinion to describe flat, passing characters.
I already understood the critical importance of persistence in achieving any goal but enjoyed and benefited from the reinforcement he focuses on in part one of the three part book. I enjoyed (and saved) the profound observations Pressfield states throughout the book. This is a fast but important read no matter what your pursuit is.
I know Hiaasen is loved by many but it did not do anything for me. Characters felt extremely fake and plot was not riveting
Excellent writing and character development in this dark book. An inside look at some communities misplaced trust in shady religious figures.
Interesting extrapolation on the dangers of artificial intelligence. Could have been a quicker read and made more believable by eliminating some of the unstopped antics of Alex. The market data and detail were spot on. A freaky possibility.