Death Notes: The Beginning- Book 0 by James Hunt is an entertaining short book. I gave it four stars.
"To her, every death matters. And she won’t stop until the scales of justice are balanced.
No matter how hard she tries, Homicide Detective Adila Cooper can’t outrun her past."
I received a complimentary copy from Amazon. That did not change my opinion for this review.
Link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E4G46TG
Death Notes: The Beginning- Book 0 by James Hunt is an entertaining short book. I gave it four stars.
"To her, every death matters. And she won’t stop until the scales of justice are balanced.
No matter how hard she tries, Homicide Detective Adila Cooper can’t outrun her past."
I received a complimentary copy from Amazon. That did not change my opinion for this review.
Link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E4G46TG
Ready for your next John W. Mefford Thriller?
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AT Death's Door (An Alex Troutt Thriller, Book 11)
(Redemption Thriller Series 23)
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"This entire series has been a thrill ride from beginning to end and have got to be some of the best suspense/thrill reads I have read to date!" reviews Life as Leels
"This is a powerful addition to the Redemption series. A family vacation in a tropical paradise - what could be better? Unfortunately, paradise doesn't last long for Alex as she's thrown into a world where greed is only the tip of the iceberg. The lengths that some will go to in the name of profit are only matched by the lengths Alex will go to in the name of justice." reviews Liliyana Shadowlyn
"I am still shaken by the events that transpired, far from home with no support in a corrupt law enforcement how can Alex and Ozzie (and their loved ones) get out of this alive? You will just have to read AT Death's Door to find out..." reviews Ebook Addicts UK
Kindle - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F2X84WS
Paperback - http://smarturl.it/ADD_pb
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All it takes is a slight shift in the tectonic plates and two thousand miles later, a tidal wave engulfs the Big Island.
This time, the deluge is in the form of greed and treachery. And many in the land of paradise will do anything to keep it hidden under the surface.
But when severed limbs start rolling onto the shore, Alex has another thing in mind -- even when her heart is gutted. Despite the shock of a lifetime, Alex won't stop until someone pays the ultimate price.
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https://beckvalleybooks.blogspot.com/2018/07/at-deaths-door-alex-troutt-thriller.html
Mallory the Death Witch can talk to ghosts which should really help her as a murder detective. But cryptic messages from a drowned ghost aren’t that helpful in actually solving their murder
When a second almost murder happens nearly right in front of her - and both victims seem to be heavily politically connected which brings even more of a level of pressure and complexity - and personal risk. These are powerful enemies to make
This book adds nicely to the world building in nicely gentle, non-info-dumpy ways. I really like how the book expanded on Selkies, giving us lots of hints about their culture without necessarily sitting us down for a lecture. Similarly the references to how magical beings had obviously faced brutal persecution and predation was referenced - and by referencing it we got the full history and ideal without actually having to lay it all out there. Similarly we have references to different magical creatures beyond the immediate ones we’ve seen as well as the different gods of the witches: and how those can blend with other traditions (one of Mallory’s friends is Jewish and a witch)
I really like how the world building is done in this book - in this series - this general gentle build, the exposure to many elements of the world time after time but never actually throwing a lot of it at us in a way that is false or confusing or irrelevant, making it all grow naturally
And I really like its depiction of police work, complete with so many red herrings, frustrations, complete lack of leads, going back, trying again, and again, looking for some clue. No easy fx, not quick answer with lots of wild theories on the way. And at the same time the police actually have lives, none of this idea that they should all spend every waking moment on the job. Yes they have lives and friends and hobbies and exercise and go running on a full moon through werewolf haunted woods (hey I didn’t say they did sensible things in their free time. Though, honestly, while I this is the kind of decision that would normally make me roll me eyes, I really like how this was portrayed. With mallory planning her perfect day, having it disrupted and promising herself that she could still salvage it, she could still get in that run, even as it increasingly became obvious she couldn’t, she promised herself it and couldn’t let it go. I can see that - because it’s the sort of thing people who do. Who like running, I guess. I mean, i find the whole thing quite bizarre, but if you sub in “pizza” for “run” then it makes a lot more sense). And they don’t spend all their time focusing on one case either. This murder matters - but there’s a lot of crime out there!
The plot just works with all this, her friends work with this and I love the world building
An element about Mallory and Jakob’s relationship - it is rare and interesting to have a series start with a relationship rather than have them fall in love and build a relationship during the series. I like the idea of that as it starts us in a very different place and also avoids fast forwarding the relationship. We also have Mallory and Jakob living very different lives which is also very different from most of the genre. Jakob is a vampire but he’s also a businessman, he has his own life and job and it doesn’t really intersect with Mallory’s job as a police detective. This is, again, really unique and I like it - I like that they have a relationship and don’t constantly live in each other’s lives and Mallory doesn’t have to fall back on Jakob’s woo-woo, resources or anything else. It’s surprisingly unique and I like it a lot
But… and I feel nitpicky saying it… I don’t have a huge sense of their relationship. Certainly not that they’re in love to the point of her moving in with them because they don’t seem to spend a lot of time together… I mean they spend time together - and have sex. He cooks for her - which is nice; and I really like how this goes into his past about how he faced famine and lost family members. This is excellent on several levels because it stops romanticising the past and adds an extra level of pathos to what living hundreds of years means and how it can leave long lasting scars. I mean it’s great about his development - but for their relationship? The one thing they willingly share together is now kind of pathologised… and it was all they had was sex (and they have a lot of sex - and I’m not against sex but they need something other than sex, desperate feeder obsession and Painful Conversations About Vampires). The few social occasions they spend together - going to his church for mass (she’s not religious), a birthday party for E (which Mallory spent all evening being kind of a less than pleasant grump), watching the super-bowl (which Jakob isn’t really interested in). I get tolerating your partner’s hobbies, believe me, I’m endured a lot of inept attempts to learn how to play musical instruments - but your relationship needs to be more than sex, deep-seated insecurity and then tolerating each other.
I really like that they have seperate lives and we didn’t see the beginning of the relationship - but now we need to see that actual relationship
This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I really enjoyed this book! This was a re-read for me and I liked it just as much the second time around. I did remember some parts of the book from the first time I read the story but I had forgotten most of the details. It has been about a year and half since I listened to the last book in this series and I really enjoyed spending a little bit of time with Harry Dresden once again. This is the fifth book in the series and I do recommend that this series be read in order. This was a book that entertained me from beginning to end.
Harry has a lot going on in this book. I don't even know how he is able to keep everything straight. He has a vampire from the Red Court that wants to duel him. A priest wants his help in finding the Shroud and a few other people would like to get their hands on it as well. An old girlfriend is in town to keep things interesting. Plus there are all the other situations that Harry seems to regularly find himself in. If you are looking for a book with a lot of action, look no further because this book really never slows down.
The characters in this book almost feel real to me. One thing that I love about reading a series like this is how well you get to know each of the characters. It is almost like they are old friends and you can somewhat anticipate how they might react in certain situations. I do think it is also a lot of fun to re-read a longer series like this because the groundwork for future events is being laid. Having already read the later books, I know that some scenes will become more important later on. There are a lot of characters featured in this story that have been very important to the series. I liked seeing Michael and his family as well as the other Knights of the Cross. Thomas, John Marconi, Susan, and Karin also play important roles.
James Marsters takes this book to a whole new level. I originally read this book on my kindle but if I had known how good the audiobook was, I might have went that route the first time around. I think he does a fantastic job in bringing Harry to life. I know what Harry is feeling at times because I can hear it in his voice. I think that he does a great job with all of the characters and the dialogue in the story flows very nicely. He has a very pleasant voice that was easy to listen to for hours at a time.
I do recommend this series to others. I like that it is a fairly complex story with some humor worked in at just the right moments. Harry is a character that is easy to cheer for because in the end he really is a good guy. I am looking forward to continuing with my re-read of the series very soon.
Initial Thoughts
This was a re-read for me. I remembered parts of the book but no details. I think that Jim Marsters narration brings Harry to a whole new level. Lots of excitement in the one with appearances by most of the key characters in the series.
Book source: Audible purchase
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