#55 The Perfect Smile: Jessie Hunt #4 by Blake Pierce Jessie has to deal with her serial killer father and her father's serial killer acolyte to survive. Interesting psychological thriller with nice twists and a plot that doesn't make me throw my Kindle across the room.
#56 Convince Me by Nina Sadowsky This tale is told from the viewpoints of the widow, the widow's mother-in-law, and the decedent's best friend and business partner. But nothing about the dead man was what it seemed. Actually kinda creepy, in a good "what's gonna happen next" way.
#57 Go The Distance by Jen Calonita Another Disney girl power tale, this one about Megara, who is forbidden by Zeus to follow Hercules into Olympus because she's mortal and then gets a chance from Hera to join the pantheon. A lot of familiar characters show up, including a couple of new ones. Herc doesn't get the idiot male treatment, either. A nice light read.
#58 Part Of Your World by Liz Braswell Arial didn't get her voice back in time to stop the wedding. Ursula is the princess on land and Arial rules in her father's stead with no voice. Four years pass. Things are about to change. Girl power with some retaliation for past wrongs thrown in.
#59 The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes by Leonard Goldberg Widow Joanna Blalock, the out-of-wedlock daughter of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler, meets Dr. John Watson Jr. and solves crimes in WW1 London with the original Watson's assistance. Very much in the spirit and tone of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories. If you like Holmesiana, you might enjoy this series.
#60 The Perfect Lie: Jessie Hunt #5 by Blake Pierce Jessi helps the LAPD solve another murder by literally putting herself in the killer's crosshairs. Tight psychological mystery and some cautious relationship development. I plan to read all the ones Pierce has released to date.
#61 Midnight in the Pacific : Guadalcanal by Joseph Wheelan Every time I read a World War 2 book I learn more than I knew before. This history volume is spiced by quotes from American, Japanese, Australian, and native sources, and I felt the tension of the defending Marines every time the Japanese tried to retake Henderson field. Tight, comprehensive story of the land, sea, and air campaign to stop the Japanese war machine in 1942.
#62 Alone At Dawn by Dan Schilling On March 4th, 2002, Combat Controller John Chapman was airdropped into a firefight in Afghanistan where he saved a number of his comrades' lives at the cost of his own. The story of his Medal of Honor action all but made me jump out of my seat a few times, not to mention the training he underwent to become one of the most exclusive combat fraternities in the world. Highly recommended.
#63 The Girl on the Velvet Swing by Simon Baatz This was the crime of the 20th century back in its first decade. Stanford White, famous architect, was shot by layabout heir Harry Thaw because White was accused by Thaw's new bride, Evelyn Nesbit, of raping her when she was sixteen. White was apparently what we'd label today a "sexual predator." Thaw was certifiably insane. Evelyn was a young country girl thrown into the insanity of the lifestyles of the rich and famous and might as well have been a tennis shoe in a running clothes dryer. Despite the inclusion of a lot of testimony from Thaw's various trials, there was no mention in the book of a velvet swing, red or otherwise. Interesting tale of wealth and jealousy and perversion and victimization of the innocent. They weren't that different from us.
#64 Videssos Cycle: Vol. 1-2 by Harry Turtledove A detachment of Romans from Gaul is magically transported to another world where they must learn to deal with the different factions and opponents while also learning how to deal with magic workers, both good and evil. Turtledove does his usual good job following the action from a third person singular POV, where we know only what Marcus knows or surmises. I plan to read the next two volumes also.
