Brian H

I found this to start very slowly but it was okay by the end.  If I didn’t know this was a good series from my reading friends, I might not be continuing.  I still recommend reading to get character backgrounds, etc. 

I think it was not a bad novel, considering it was her first, but not up to the hype.  The story was interesting in that everyone (after they are past teenage) is a Mono ( can only remember the past 24 hours) or a Duo (that can remember 48 hours).  Interesting story but left me with so many questions how that world could even function (like how they remember prior schooling).  Told from separate points of view from 4 main characters which was interesting and kind of held my attention.  I also liked the twist of the ending which I did not see coming.

Not the best of the series, but still a good story where the Chinese are the bad guys trying to destabilize Thailand with a bomber (a for hire former seal) blowing up different several locations around the country while making it look and feel like the bombs are being created by Cambodia.

Scot and his team are there to find and stop the bombings with the help of the US embassy staff in Bangkok. The action was fast paced and a quick read. I wish the book had more involvement from several significant characters from previous books like Nicholas and his new wife and baby.  Still loved the book and look forward to the next one.

This book was cyberpunk which I don’t normally read but this fit the tomorrow category of the Goodreads ATY challenge.  Overall, the author did a great job building the dystopian world of Pittsburgh and the characters.  In this world, everyone was hardwired with adware in the brain and constantly received news and ads related to their location.  Solving a few related murders was the theme and it held my interest.  I downgraded my rating because I thought there was way too much pornography and violence throughout.

“George" and "Lennie" are wandering day laborers traveling together.  They travel from one job to another, leaving due to trouble caused by Lennie. George is cunning whereas Lennie is a giant and retarded. George shows great loyalty to take care of Lenny despite the burden. Their dream is to save enough money to buy their own farm and be their own boss.  A place where George can work the land, and Lennie tend the rabbits. You will root for them to realize their dream, but in the end Lennie's innocence and unintentional brutal behavior cause too many problems. It is dark and depressing but a very good novella.  Worth the read.  

A short but very memorable read from the famed Pulitzer winner John Steinbeck. A little 100p novella about the unbreakable bonds of friendship, and the cruelties of a sometimes hostile rural world.

I enjoyed the book very much.  While touted as mystery/thriller, it was not a true thriller.  It was so easy to read, it was filled with tongue in cheek humor.  The main character, Edison Bixby, is a former LA police detective with a brain injury that makes him spout uncomfortable truth whenever he opens his mouth. Certainly not at all politically correct, not sure if some of it is intentional.  His sidekick is an infrequently employed character actor, Walter Nash, who tells the story, hired to keep Bixby out of trouble for his mouth.  It was a strange character pairing but somehow Goldberg made it work.  I look forward to the next book and plan to read his other series.  

My first (and possibly last Scottoline).  There was a lot of useless information that was just filler.  With that, the story also did not flow.  By the end, I almost didn’t care who the “bad” guy was.  At least it was not who I suspected.  If you are going to read the series, you probably need this first book but I hope you don’t find it as bad as I did.

Pretty good for a debut novel.  Fast paced, kept my attention.  I would have liked to see a few of the characters more developed.  The plot is similar to Grisham’s The Firm.  Not as good but I still liked it and will read the sequel.  Other reviewers have stated this would be better as a movie, which I think is true.  

The book was predictably somewhat dated since it was published in the 60’s.  The main character was a contradiction, being both a knight in shining armor and a womanizer.  Not politically correct to today’s “standards”, but what should we expect.  This book had a far fewer number of characters to keep track of which was a nice change.  The story itself was good and I plan to continue reading the series to see how the main character grows.  

The book was straight forward and predictable but somehow I also found it addictive.  So, overall I liked the book and was rooting for the characters.  I also liked the leadin to the next book which I did not predict.  I plan to read the subsequent novels.

I really love Michael Connelly books but I don’t like the Stilwell books as much. It is not the character, I like Stilwell.  This novel had two parallel cases which keeps you interested.  The chapters were short and  jumped back and forth between cases but I thought it flowed well.  I recommend reading, it will hold your interest throughout but I didn’t really like the way either case ended due to lack of details and downgraded my rating.

I’ve read all the Jesse Stone novels and find them easy to read and very enjoyable.  This Spenser novel, my first read in this series was also easy to read.  The Spenser in this first book is a wise ass and somewhat lacking in moral fiber.  Not yet the character/hero type portrayed in the TV series but there are many more books for him to grow.  There were also a couple scenarios that were totally unnecessary, like the satan worshipers.  Overall, I still liked the book and plan to keep reading the series.