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The TRIUMVIRATE 

Love for Power, Love of Power, the Power of Love

June 17-21

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When terrorists kill Shyloh’s mother, he dedicates his life to making a better world. He recruits his childhood friends Aiya and Judith. With their intimate bond, exceptional talents and singular determination they become a formidable team as they grow to be leaders in their chosen fields of politics, religion and the military.

The unraveling of civilization caused by climate change brings unique challenges, and for each of them the goal begins to take on different meaning.

Whose better world will be best?

"This book traces Shyloh's efforts to make a better world of our present social, economic, and environmental crisis through creating a team of three unbiased leaders (The Triumvirate). The problems they address are real and will be known to the reader. They are today's headlines and, being unbiased, these three are revolutionaries in their own time. It is fast paced, a good story, and an easy read.

    This would be a GREAT choice for a bookclub to read and discuss. How can Shyloh relate to the world but not to his own neighbors? Why is Shyloh so helpless without women? Do the two women love him and, if so, why? Would not the two women have gone on to do the same things without him? And what about their politics? Are they right or wrong?"
    - Clark Wilkins, Author of A Compelling Unknown Force

"If you enjoy fiction/sci-fi, climate change and politics this could be a book for you.

I enjoyed the futuristic portrayals of Canada because of the connection with the many pressingsocial issues in our country's politics.

Touches on many divisive social issues of today (immigration, virus, climatechange, federal/provincial strain) and provides a unique perspective. The take on the Canadian confederation was particularly interesting to me because of the current issues in Alberta."

- Tom Urac, Author of Spartan Revolt

    "...unflinchingly stares down some of today's most contentious issues, whether they are of a socioeconomic, environmental, racial, or political nature.

"...sure to spark discussion amongst intellectuals and casual readers alike, ... highly recommend it as a selection for a reading group."
-- Jonathan Walter, Contributing author to THE DEVIL'S DOORBELL, GHOSTLIGHT, and DARK DOSSIER anthologies; and columnist for UXmatters Web magazine

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Joe Ledger is a badass cop who's about to become a badass FBI agent. He has some issues due to some terrible stuff in his past - if I remember right, something about him, when he was a teen, being forced to watch his girlfriend get gang raped, after which they both entered therapy and she eventually committed suicide. But he's found a way to turn his issues into assets. He's in perfect control of himself, and nothing and no one can take him in a fight.

But then he kills a terrorist, after which he's brought to a shadowy guy named Mr. Church. Mr. Church has him take part in a test that involves restraining a man...who turns out to be the same terrorist Joe thought he killed, only now the terrorist is a biter and stinks like rotting flesh. Joe is asked to join Mr. Church's shadowy government organization, which is trying to stop a terrorist group bent on making the United States ground zero for a zombie pandemic.

The good: As usual, I enjoyed Ray Porter's narration. This book made me wonder just how many accents he has under his belt - he got to use a lot this time around and my only real complaint was that it occasionally took him a while to get a proper handle on how some of the characters sounded (the one I'm most thinking of here is Joe's friend and psychiatrist, Rudy). The battles were usually pretty good - my favorite was probably the part at the crab processing plant. Maberry's science-based explanation for the zombies was intriguing (prions + genius mad scientist), and the new zombies introduced near the end of the book were interesting. And I was mildly amused by Mr. Church's ever-present plates of Oreos and vanilla wafers.

The bad: For a military thriller featuring zombies, this was surprisingly boring. So boring that I came very close to not finishing it in time and was forced to speed the narration up, even though I really like Ray Porter's regular narration speed. It took at least half the book for most of the action to get started.

The characters were either giant cliches or forgettable. Or both. I got tired of hearing how amazing a fighter (oh sorry, "warrior") Joe was. As much as he'd claim to not be perfect, or not be as experienced or knowledgeable as other men Mr. Church could have brought in, all evidence indicated that he was this world's number one combat machine. Grace was his enormously obvious future love interest - the one thing that surprised me was that Maberry didn't include cringe-worthy on-page "confirming we're alive" sex between Grace and Joe, just a quick mention that they'd ended up in bed together (meanwhile, I was thinking about Joe's fridged girlfriend). The book does have cringe-worthy sex between two of the villains, though.

The villains were awful. The bulk of them were stereotypical Islamic terrorists. There was also a sexy female scientist who could apparently turn men's brains to jelly with a look, and an idiot who was bankrolling the terrorists and couldn't see the flaws in his plans to get rich via religious fanatic-created zombies. The one villain who marginally interested me was Toys (no idea if I'm spelling his name right), the idiot's employee and the closest thing he had to a friend.

Also, one thing I wish Maberry had done was mention the First Lady's name sooner. Or the vice president, or president. I don't remember what the First Lady's name was, but I do remember that it confirmed that neither she nor the president were real-life people. I suspect that the entire Liberty Bell ceremony scene would have gone over a bit better with me if I had read it when this book was originally published. The thought of Mr. Church's group answering directly to the current president made me shiver with horror.

I'm glad I finished this, so there isn't even the tiniest of nagging voices in my head, wondering how things turned out. But I have zero plans to read the next book.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

How I Live Now

By Meg Rosoff

I give How I Live Now 4½ stars out of five. I give this book this rating due to how I think the author explained Daisy’s feelings well. I think that many authors can do this but Meg Rosoff did this better than any that I know. It was very realistic which was good seeing as it was a book about a war and terrorists.

I really like the characters in this book too. They were very individual and it was easy to remember them. My favourite character was Piper who was one of Daisy’s (the main character) cousin.

There is no denying that Ii would read it again when I get the chance.

By Adele xxx

Mr. Powell presents an interesting hypothesis to the age-old problem of terrorism. That is, the only solution to terrorism is to engage with and negotiate with the terrorists. He comes to this belief through his experiences with the IRA, as well as with other "terrorist" groups. His arguments are persuasive. Coming from a lifetime career in law enforcement, I was extremely uncomfortable with the idea. I still am. This made for a very tough read for me, but I'm glad I stuck it out. Powell does make a lot of sense. While I still believe in the "old ways", I see his point. I'm very glad that there are people with the patience of Mr. Powell to deal with the "terrorists".

“And I've fallen.

So hard.

I've hit the ground. Gone right through it. Never in my life have I felt this. Nothing like this. I've felt shame and cowardice, weakness and strength. I've known terror and indifference, self-hate and general disgust. I've seen things that cannot be unseen.

And yet I've known nothing like this terrible, horrible, paralyzing feeling. I feel crippled. Desperate and out of control. And it keeps getting worse. Every day I feel sick. Empty and somehow aching.

Love is a heartless bastard.”  - ― Tahereh Mafi, Destroy Me

A bad start to a book can stop my read in its tracks, and this one started out, well, bad. Not because the writing is bad, it isn’t, but because I thought it was going to be just another series of bedroom calisthenics with no real story to back it up. Thankfully, the premise sounded promising, so I gave it a couple of chapters to see if it would be worth reading.

I am glad I did. Targeted surprised me – in a good way. The story, once you get past the immediate problem, is tightly written, well-paced, and surprisingly free of excessive nookie at the cost of story. That doesn’t mean that this isn’t a ‘romantic suspense’ – but it does mean that it is much more suspense than romance, which is just what I like.

The premise is interesting – not ‘Oh, I have never seen that before’ interesting, but though I have seen it done before, I have never seen it done this well before. Sophie Moreno had a hard life growing up. A very hard life, until she met Sam. Placed in the same foster home, Sophie and Sam form an unbreakable bond. But when placed separately for their last months in the system, and Sophie is brutally raped by her new foster father while her new foster mother stands by, Sophie is broken, unable to bear the agony and shame she feels. And the pain of Sam not being there to protect her from the monster. Contrary to what the sickos into BDSM think – Rape Is NOT Sexy. And Sophie is certain that no one will ever love her again. Not like Sam did, before she was brutalized. Turning her back on him, she sends him away, determined to protect herself from his disgust at what has happened to her.

Now, thirteen years later, Sam is no longer Sam but Jack Stone, an undercover agent for an undercover agency hidden within the NSA. Back from a grueling undercover operation in the bowels of a human trafficking ring, Jack just wants to rest, relax, and decompress. But his boss, Wesley Burkhart, Deputy Director of the NSA, has something different in mind. Something that will bring Jack right back to Sophie. For Sophie has seen something she shouldn’t – and a vicious cartel boss will do whatever it takes to track Sophie down and kill her. Now Jack is determined to protect her, while keeping his identity a secret. But their old bond is still there, and keeping his secret may destroy them both.

This book, the first in the Deadly Ops series by Katie Reus, shows promise. The action is well written, the characters intriguing, and the storyline kept me riveted. There were some continuity issues that had me scratching my head, but not enough to make me turn off my listen. I am hoping that the same issues don’t show up in the next book, Bound to Danger. These are the only two on Audible, but there are more in the series at Deadly Ops.

Sophie Eastlake does a beautiful job of narration. She has quite a catalog with Audible, including the Elder Races, Nikki Glass, and the Chicagoland Vampires series. I would have enjoyed listening to the book just for her narration.

If you are looking for a romantic suspense where the suspense is the star, you might give it a try. I wasn’t disappointed. Not a five star read, due to a couple of odd content issues, but a good listen nonetheless.