Thanks, Lynn and Annie. I've expanded on this in Off Topic. Your good wishes are appreciated.
I hadn’t read as much last year as is my normal habit. Discovering the sheer pleasure of online apps such as crosswords, chess, jigsaws and wordsearch puzzles used up a lot of my free time that normally would have been spent on a book.
But opening up my Christmas day folder of new books has revived my delight in the written adventure. I’ve been reading like a hyperbunny, these past couple of weeks. <G>
So, let’s see...
Halo – Blood & Fire Book 1 – Frankie RoseThe main character in the story has no name, she is a trained fighter who wears a drug-laced 'halo' around her neck to keep her void of emotion and feelings for other humans. She has been trained since she was a child to fight to the death in the Colosseum of the 'Sanctuary' and after killing her best friend, her halo becomes unattached and the toxins that control her emotions no longer have any effect. She escapes the town and finds Ryka, or rather Ryka finds her, and introduces her to Freetown - a separate place where people live to escape the controlling nature of the Sanctuary. : Source – Amazon reviews
I was expecting a rerun of Hunger Games from this YA dystopian novel, but the arena fighting is quickly dispensed with in favour of our heroine finding her way in a new, alien world, trying to make sense of the lies she’s been told all her life. Given the way it ended, I was expecting something action-packed from book two and to be honest, I’ve been struggling with it a little. I may well go back to it though once I’ve exhausted everything else on my list.
Tuesday Falling – S. WilliamsYou’ve never met anyone like Tuesday. She has suffered extreme cruelty at the hands of men, and so has taken it upon herself to seek vengeance. She wants to protect and help others like her, to ease their suffering. A force to be reckoned with, she lives beneath the streets of London in the hidden network of forgotten tunnels that honeycomb the city – and this is her preferred hunting ground.
When Tuesday is connected to a series of brutal attacks on gang members, DI Loss takes on the investigation. A burned-out detective still suffering the devastating effects of the unsolved murder of his daughter three years earlier, the case starts to hit close to home. Because soon Loss will discover that Tuesday could hold the key to uncovering the truth about what happened to his daughter…
The setting and characters of this one were a little more gritty than I would normally enjoy. Despite that, it was intriguing and quirky and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Doctor Sleep – Stephen KingThe brief spoilers about Danny Torrence being in a bad place made me a bit wary going into this, but I needn’t have feared. This was King back on top form. My one complaint might be that the True Knot – and particularly Rose - didn’t really seem to live up to their fearsome reputation, being far too easily and quickly stymied. But it was good to be back in Danny’s world.
The Stranger – Harlen CobenI’ve always enjoyed Coben’s stand alone mystery novels and this was no exception. As always with these, there are plot holes to sink a battleship and some of the character motivations seem strange. But none of that seems to matter to me. <G> The plot was intriguing enough to keep me hooked. These are really the equivalent of the B movie TV Mystery of the Week. But sometimes that’s all you need to have fun.
The Waiting – Joe HartIn the middle of the shattering of his personal life, Evan is thrown a lifeline by a friend and relocates himself and his disabled son Shaun to a cabin on a remote island. But something lives there that has dark designs on both man and boy...
I’m always on the lookout for a good supernatural thriller and this one was a freebie. I enjoyed it enough that I’ll definitely be checking out more from this author. He was able to envoke a fine sense of spooky claustrophobia with some genuinely jump out of the skin moments. Added to this was an emotional subplot that tugged at the heartstrings. Definitely a keeper.
Inadvertant Disclosure – Melissa F. MillerIt's been six months since an airplane crash altered the course of attorney Sasha McCandless's professional and personal life. She's now focused on building her solo law practice and tending her budding relationship with federal air marshal Leo Connelly, who helped her stop a madman.
When Sasha drives from Pittsburgh to rural Clear Brook County to argue a discovery motion, she finds a town bitterly divided over the issue of hydrofracking the Marcellus Shale. Outsiders from the oil and gas industry and environmental activists threaten to rip apart the community's fabric.
Then the town's only judge is murdered, and Sasha can't just walk away. As she works to find the killer, she must race to save the town before it fractures beyond repair.
A second outing for what’s becoming one of my favourite heroines. I’m definitely going to be adding this series to my must read list.
For the Memory of Dragons (Dragons of Eternity 2) – Julie WetzelWhat do you do when a dragon crash-lands in your backyard?
That's the question Terra's faced with when one of these creatures plows down into her cornfield. Should she help out the hunk of a man the dragon turns into, or turn him over to the trigger-happy 'authorities' that have come looking for him? The deciding factor—he has no memory. Giving him up just doesn't seem right… at least until she knows the truth of who he is.
Alex has forgotten a thing or two—his name being one of them—but he knows there is something important that he needs to remember, if he could just get his battered brain to work properly. A little rest might help, but there's no time for that when the bullets start flying.
Now he has to follow the few clues he has to discover who he is, and why people are trying to kill him. But that's the easy part. The hard part will be keeping his hands off the lovely lady helping him
As I’ve said in the past, dedicated romance isn’t normally my go to genre, but, hoo boy, do I love dragons. <G> I enjoyed this second outing into the author’s dragon world just as much as the first. The perfect light reading for Christmas Day.
Think that’s it so far.
LabRat
