This was an amazing book that in the year 2022 hit a little two close to home.  The people of Lille have been subject to to whims of a power-hungry tyrant for over two centuries, with women and girls bearing the brunt of his madness.  Cinderella is dead, and it turns out the story everyone has been told about her is a lie.

This was a beautiful retelling.  So original and thought provoking (considering today's current atmosphere.)  I was completely caught up in the tale.  The characters, even with a few annoying habits, were so likeable.  I was right there in it, fighting with them.  It was well thought out and wonderfully written.   I read along with the ebook, while listening to the audiobook and as usual, Bahni Turpin knocked it out of the park!  She captured the emition of the characters and did amazing distinguishing them with different voices.  This was a 10-out-of-10 would/will read again.

◆◇◆◇ Key West Dead (Jake Wolfe Book 6) by Mark Nolan ◇◆◇◆
Jake Wolfe and his former IED-sniffing war dog hunt for a mysterious bomb-maker who is wreaking havoc among the Florida Keys.

"To say I am obsessed with Jake and Cody would be an understatement. They are, hands down, my favorite literary characters, ever." Leila M Brenner @ Leels Loves Books

Now available:
Kindle:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FXVTH2T 
Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091DWX1BH 

Hardback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091859T6J 
**FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Jake Wolfe and his former IED-sniffing war dog hunt for a mysterious bomb-maker who is wreaking havoc among the Florida Keys.

The killer is not amused by their interference in his plans, and he soon adds Jake to his list of targets.

With the islands under constant attack and everybody a suspect, the chase is on in a race against time as the clock keeps ticking down toward a final heart-stopping conclusion.

Will Cody's trained nose be able to find the criminal in time, so Jake can stop his bombing spree before he detonates "the big one?"

Read Key West Dead to find out what happens next.

Key West Dead is part of a series but may be read as a stand-alone novel.

All six Kindle Unlimited books in the Jake Wolfe vigilante justice thriller series are available to read free with your subscription.

A boatload of burned out spies spend their twilight years in Sough House participating in deadend jobs until retirement. They are known affectionatley as Slow Horses. Their rather unothodox leader is Jackson Lamb, an overweight, chainsmoking, narcissistic misogynist who finds it amusing to pass wind in public. In a throwback to the cold war and possilbly in homage to George Smiley our assortement of oddballs seek out and destroy the threat of communists wherever these devious and cunning moles materialize. Some may enjoy Herron's humour and style of writing but personally I found it laborious.

Diane Kelly writes a very good series about an IRS agent, Tara Holloway, and a surprisingly decent series about a police officer and her K-9 (surprising because the dog has its own chapters).

This is not on par with those other efforts.  This was just short of awful.

The characters are good, but the author has fully grown adults running around saying “the b word” but not thinking twice about haring off to the home of someone they decide must be a suspect and “interrogating” them, flinging accusations around like confetti.

The plot was well constructed but just about smothered under chapters of introspection and a detective just short of being earnestly incompetent.  

Sawdust is awesome, but Kelly tends to give him slightly canine tendencies that don't quite ring true, and frankly, no matter how endearing Sawdust is, a reader can't help but wonder if this isn't a marketing gimmick to appease the cat lovers out there.

Disappointing, but this won't be a series I'll be continuing.