Friday, September 30, 2011

Fatal Error - Wilson, F. Paul

Fatal Error is the next to last novel in the Repairman Jack series. You have to have read the previous novels or you will be totally lost. They're well worth reading. Repairman Jack is one of my favorite characters and series.



Jack has several irons in the fire. He's trying his best to keep up with the plots the Otherness has going and keep everyone safe, especially Gia and Vicky. Dawn has her baby and it's a surprise, and the lady is fading fast. Of course since this is the next to last book in the series there's a cliff hanger. Very highly recommended.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Full Dark, No Stars - King, Stephen

Full Dark, No Stars is a collection of four novellas. If you're a King fan this is a must read. Be prepared because the thing about King is you can never count on a happy ending.



1922 is the story of Wilfred James. A man haunted by one singular act of violence and the ripples it caused in his world. This story seemed to drag at times, but was worth the read. I try not to dream of rats.

Big Driver is about revenge. About how a horrific event can change a person and their ideas of what's right and what's wrong. This one kept the pages turning late one night.

Fair Extension is about revenge, but a more subtle revenge than Big Driver. Streeter has let the sin of envy eat at him for years. The devil can do some amazing things with a little sin.

The best of the bunch is A Good Marriage. What would you do if you found out something about your spouse that changed your whole world? Find out what Darcy did.

A great collection of King. Very highly recommended.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Guilty - Samuel, David L.

The Guilty is a novella about friends and couples and how it can all go wrong. It can really go wrong.



Steve, Eddie, and Slug have been friends since high school. Every year they go on a fall hunting trip to get away from civilization and women, and get back to their glory days. What happens when Steve and Eddie bring their girl friends along makes for a suspenseful, fast paced, and gory weekend of terror. This book could have used some better editing but the story keeps you turning pages. Recommended.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Succubus On Top - Mead, Richelle

Succubus On Top is a Georgina Kincaid novel. Georgina is the succubus with a heart of gold, or something like that. She always seems to work above her pay grade. Yes they have pay grades in hell.



Georgina is still attempting a relationship with Seth, a mortal man. It's touch and go, if you'll pardon the pun. Her old friend Bastien is in town. He's an incubus and enlists Georgina's aid in the corruption of a religious right radio hostess. Georgina is also trying to figure out what's going on with her friend Doug and his band. She's a busy succubus and it makes for a great story. Highly recommended.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Enough Said

I admit I borrowed this image and made my own changes. Books build your brain. Reality TV turns your brain into mush.

Quick Fixes - Wilson, F. Paul

Quick Fixes is a series of tales about Repairman Jack. If you've never read a Repairman Jack story you're in for a treat. Check out the whole Repairman Jack Series.



Repairman Jack is a true libertarian. He has no SSN or any other records. He exists in the cracks in the system and makes his living "fixing" things for people when the law is not an option. And Jack is very good at his work. Individual stories in this collection have been published in earlier anthologies, and some are excerpts from longer books. They're all worth a second read, in case you're not a Repairman Jack virgin. Very highly recommended.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Spellsinger - Foster, Alan Dean

Spellsinger is book one in a series of eight books. I'd like to know how the battle against the evil plated ones turns out, but not that bad.



Jonathan Thomas Meriweather is a college student working part-time as a sanitation engineer. He's pulled into another dimension by a wizard who's in search of a real engineer. Jon-Tom doesn't manifest where expected so the first being he encounters is a talking otter. The otter takes him to the wizard who is a turtle. Eventually Jon-Tom becomes a spellsinger, which explains the title of the book, and the series. It's an interesting book, with some interesting characters, but wordy and long and I can't believe there are seven more books before the evil that Jon-Tom was transported to help fight is vanquished. And while the first book was $3, which is a reasonable price for a kindle book, the second and subsequent books are $8 each. Forget it. Not worth the price.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Second Son - Child, Lee

Second Son is a short novel in the Jack Reacher series that gives us a look at Reacher as a 13 year old who's family just transferred to Okinawa.



Reacher is already figuring the angles and solving problems as a young teenager. He has himself, his brother and even his father to take care of. Short but very highly recommended.

Jack: Secret Histories - Wilson, F. Paul

Jack: Secret Histories is a prequel to the Repairman Jack series. It provides a glimpse of a 14 year old Jack and how he started his repair business.



Jack, Weezy, and Eddie find an interesting artifact and a dead body in the pine barrens. The artifact and the body lead them into some interesting and dangerous adventures. There's an old women and her dog in this story too. Sound familiar? Very highly recommended.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Florida Roadkill - Dorsey, Tim

Florida Roadkill is a train wreck of a novel. You try to stop watching but you just can't turn away. I almost stopped reading this book twice, but I managed to hang in there to the end. I'm actually glad I did.



If you didn't have ADHD before you started reading this book, you'll be infected by the time you're done. The book starts out like a unrelated series of short stories about the crazies in Florida. It takes a long time, but the author eventually braids the separate threads into a coherent conclusion, almost. There's still the five million bucks and the anti-hero, Serge Storms, to account for. There's enough violence to populate several Peckinpah movies, and it's the creative kind. It won't take you long to understand why 'roadkill' is in the title. In spite of my initial shock and awe I liked the end result. Highly recommended.

Friday, September 9, 2011

We All Fall Down - Wood, Simon

We All Fall Down is a high-tech thriller. Do you know what your company is doing with your work?



Hayden Duke is an engineer doing contract work for multiple companies. When Marin Design Engineering employees start committing suicide Hayden is there to witness it. The body count continues to grow and so does the suspense. Not the best book I've ever read but a good story. Recommended.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Mile 81 - King, Stephen

Mile 81 is not a full length novel. It's only 80 pages in print. Amazon calls it a kindle single. That doesn't mean it's not packed with all the real life grit and horror you've come to expect from Stephen King.



There's an abandoned rest stop at mile 81 on the interstate. The local teens hang out there doing the things teens do. Something else is hanging out there now, and it's something you'd do well to avoid. My advices is to read this one in bright sunshine way before bedtime. Very highly recommended.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Succubus Blues - Mead, Richelle

Succubus Blues is about Georgina Kincaid, a succubus. She's not your ordinary garden variety succubus. Georgina is a reluctant succubus.



Georgina is tired of seducing men and stealing their souls. She's been slacking off and only picking men with little or no soul left to collect. Her demon boss is not happy. Georgina wants to be in love, but that can only end badly. She's dazzled by the author of her favorite books and infatuated with a linguist, but both relationships seem doomed to failure. Then someone starts killing the local Seattle immortals and Georgina decides to figure out what's going on. Could this make her a target for the mystery killer? You bet.

This is a new twist on the supernatural genre for me. I really enjoyed this book. Very highly recommended.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Don't Poke the Bear! - Locke, John

Don't Poke the Bear! is an Emmett Love Western. Locke makes westerns that are real and gritty, and never fail to make me laugh. A good combination.



Emmett and Gentry have settled down in Dodge City and are respectable saloon owners now. Emmett manages to get saddled with a dancing bear and things get a little crazy. Then Shrug and Rose show up and a little turns to a lot. Add the civil war breaking out and you have a volatile mix. My only complaint is this one ends screaming sequel. I'm just going to have to wait for that next book. Very highly recommended.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

World War Z - Brooks, Max

World War Z is based on a series of interviews that cover the history of the Zombie War.



The zombie war was truly a world war. It covered every continent except Antarctica, and all the islands and bodies of water that were warm enough for zombies to be mobile. This book contains interviews with heroes, villains, and some who are hard to place in either category. It covers the war from its beginnings in China, to the declared victory in the USA, and beyond. Just remember that every spring, somewhere, some Z's start to thaw out. Never let your guard down.

By the time you're done reading this book you can almost remember the war. Very highly recommended.