Synopsis: 17th century London, Benjamin Weaver, ex-boxer, thieftaker and general rogue is blackmailed by a mysterious figure into investigating a plot surrounding the East India Trade Company. Conspiracies on conspiracies abound, as Weaver investigates.

Review: I'm a fan enough of this book that I will definitely read at least another of Liss' books, although there were some problems. Start with the good: as a historical thriller, the detail of old London is firmly on display here (although I cannot testify as to its accuracy; I am no history scholar of this period), in lush abundance. I liked Weaver as a character, he's a smooth operative, though, he doesn't come across as quite perfect. Liss also goes to pains to make him likeable, as he displays on several occasions a generosity of spirit, or in defense of the weak and helpless, that might not have been so common at the time.

The romance angle with Celia Glade felt a little vague and not really there. She's there, they talk, she doesn't really do anything, she's gone again. I didn't really much sense of her as a character. She's supposed to be a master of disguise, a spy, but mostly what she does is hang around and confuse Weaver about her role in the events of the book. At the end its implied he gets the girl, but there was never really much lead up to it, other than Weaver worrying that he's going to lose his will to caution around her.

All in all, I liked it a solid three and a half stars, maybe even four if I'm feeling generous, but it really could have benefited from the romance being a little more fleshed out. Fifteen to twenty pages spread out over the book for it perhaps would have helped.

This is a book written for science fiction fans, in more ways than one.

Zeke (the mc) is selected, along with three of Earth's most talented young people, by the Confederation of United Planets to live on their space station for a year. When the Confederation evaluates a species, they always choose four, including one Random. Zeke is Earth's Random.

During the journey to the station, the ship is attacked. Zeke manages to destroy the attacking vessel, saving the lives of every being on their ship. But, instead of being hailed as a hero, Zeke is treated as a war criminal by almost everyone. And he is rejected by his own group, including their chaperone, a representative of the state department. Zeke gets together with the alien Randoms, who were also rejected by their own species, and they form a loyal bond.

This book is filled with science fiction references that will delight fans: Captain Kirk, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Ender's Game to name a few. Zeke is a sci-fi superfan and he enjoys making connections between his current situation and various shows, movies, and books. 

This a great book for middle grade. Zeke faces issues of fitting in, making friends, and having feelings for an alien girl. There are also conspiracies, friendship issues, hidden secrets, and politics. For example, some influential people in the confederation are more interested in saving face than in saving lives. There are a few twists I didn't see coming and a big one that I sort of did, but it's all fun.

I enjoyed this one and there are two sequels that I hope to get around to eventually. 

Modern life seems to have a soundtrack for everything. Even crime.

CRIME + MUSIC: The Sounds of Noir, collects twenty darkly intense, music-related noir stories by world-renowned mystery authors Brendan DuBois, Alison Gaylin, Craig Johnson, David Liss, Val McDermid, Gary Phillips, Peter Robinson and, from the music world, Galadrielle Allman, author of Please Be With Me: A Song for My Father, Duane Allman and award-winning songwriter-novelist Willy Vlautin. Edited by novelist and Wall Street Journal rock and pop music critic Jim Fusilli.

The lively anthology’s chilling, sinister tales tap into the span of rock and pop history, ranging from Peter Blauner’s heart-wrenching “The Last Temptation of Frankie Lymon” to Fusilli’s “Boy Wonder,” set in the world of contemporary electronic dance music; from Naomi Rand’s “The Misfits,” a punk-rock revenge saga to Mark Haskell Smith’s menacingly comedic “1968 Pelham Blue SG Jr.”; from Reed Farrel Coleman’s study of a one-hit wonder, “Look at Me/Don’t Look at Me” to Erica Wright’s account of betrayal among minor talents in “A Place You’re Likely to Find”—and many more.

In the hands of these modern masters of mystery fiction, CRIME + MUSIC exposes the nasty side of the world of popular music, revealing it to be the perfect setting for noir.

For my Summer Book Bingo card we had to read a comic or graphic novel. My son has just recently showed interest in comic books so I picked one of his- Mystery Men. It's the first book in a five book mini-series that was written in 2011. It featured all new pulp-era characters set in Marvel continuity. I've always liked the gritty and stylish 1930s period so I was drawn to this particular comic with the New York City backdrop. This first story starts out with the murder of an actress, Alice Starr, and a conspiracy to frame her boyfriend. We're introduced to two of the characters, The Revenant and The Operative, who end up joining forces to find the true killer.

Now I've read very few comic books in my lifetime so I'm definitely no expert but I was very impressed. By the end I was wishing I already had the next book so I would say the writers did a pretty good job. They reeled me right in anyways! The next time we go comic shopping I'll be on the lookout for the rest of the series.

The Copper Bracelet  --  a collaboration serial thriller

-- conception by Jeffery Deaver

Book 2 of The Watchlist aka the Harold Middleton series

Other authors involved:  

Gayle Lynds, David Hewson, Jim Fusilli, John Gilstrap, Joseph Finder, Lisa Scottoline, David Corbett, Linda Barnes, Jenny Siler, David Liss, P.J. Parrish, Brett Battles, Lee Child, Jon Land, James Phelan

This book is a collaborative effort among various crime thriller novelists, with Jeffery Deaver fronting the project (he created the main protagonist, Harold Middleton, and he also writes the first and last chapters).  I don't know all of these other crime thriller authors, though I think some of them were part of the first book's writing... and some are new names.

I was just as intrigued with it as I had been with The Chopin Manuscript (my review), though I had been worried that the book would be a big mess with so many minds and so many ideas trying to take precedent. And despite The Chopin Manuscript getting slightly out of control towards the middle and the ending, it was still a very enjoyable piece... if you can ignore a lot of the mess.

Whether this book was really a big haphazard, narrative mess, or if it was just me, being distracted at all the wrong times while listening to the audiobook, I can't be sure. But I sure as hell had a hard time following what was going on with so much going on within moments of events.

It's a pretty good concept that has potential to last a few more books, honestly. Harold Middleton is pretty much the leader of a group of Volunteers who are tasked with helping keep the world a safe place by going after potential terrorist threats and the like. And, of course, in The Copper Bracelet, there's a lot of action, and traveling, and secrets, and secret reveals, and death, and destruction, and betrayals, and torture, and... there's just a LOT going on in this book.

Like I said already, I had no idea where the book was going with all the things happening for a good long time.

Still, I had fun with this one. Even if it was a lot of confusing fun.

And once again, Alfred Molina did excellent with his narration; though I can't help but feel that it was better in the first book.