Cecil’s Comments (group member since Jan 07, 2020)

Cecil’s comments from the Chapter Adventure Reading Challenges (Formerly GXO) group.

Challenge complete!
Word - Keep
Book - The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler- Olsen
This was a fun ride, interesting characters. See my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Read two books, actually.
The first was The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson.
A fairly long slog, but interesting backstory to the World's Fair, that I knew little about. The side story of a mass murderer seemed to need it's own book, but tied together with the fair, so made some sense.

The second book, Farenheit 451 by the amazing Ray Bradbury, was more of a horror book for me. See my review here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Read the last (for me) book in the 4 book “Seasons of Horror” series by Dan Simmons, Fires of Eden. Actually had a hard time getting my hands on this one; not at the library, only available online as a used book. (So I’ll donate this one to the library.) Dan Simmons has a tendency to write very long books, but mostly has not been an issue for me. This one was a double timeline story, with some pretty wild fantasy/horror imaginings. I have to say that in a pinch I really hope I would have someone like Cordie to help me out, she was just full of surprises! Also enjoyed the mostly tongue in cheek reference to a certain famous billionaire, that was pretty timely for me. Especially since it was written in 1994.

Also read another book for our book club that I personally would qualify as horror, Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alum. While promoted as a study in race and class, the underlying story was as creepy as anything fantastical, more so at this particular time in history. (Shudder)

Keyword: One
Book: One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner

The second book in the Frankie Elkin series. Frankie specializes in finding missing people that others have given up on. In this case she is asked to help someone a father that has been looking for his missing adult son, who disappeared the night before his wedding while camping with his buddies. At some point almost everyone is suspect, but the story ravels and unravels reasons behind each character. A good read, will check on her future stories!

Read another Longmire book, Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson.
Always enjoy these books, this one had Walt chasing a fugitive across the mountains, alone of course. Pushing his luck, as always.
My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Key word: Man
Book read: The Alibi Man by Tami Hoag

Was a quick read, had to interrupt it to read a very long book-club book, but was easy to pick back up. A wild ride, with a glimpse into the lives (and sliminess) of the rich.
See my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Book: Low Pressure by Sandra Brown

While following the style of many books like this (mystery in her past, love interest that starts out the opposite of love, twisty ending), it was still a good read. Good enough to keep me up too late just to finish it! Weather related to events that happened at the time of the death in the past, and the main character's fear of storms.

Keyword: Way
Book: The Long Way Back by Nichole Baart
An interesting take on the social media influence, and how it affected a specific teen in the story. But not how you'd think. It definitely went in a direction I didn't see coming, on a subject that is current and pretty scary. (More so lately.) Based around where I live, so that's also a draw. Good book!

Word: Club
Book: 4th of July by James Patterson (Women’s Murder Club.)
Was a fun quick read, a roller coaster ride as this series seems to be.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Read A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher by Sue Halpern.
Actually the ONLY book in my pile that had an animal on the cover, but turned out to be more than expected. A nice break from my usual murder mystery/suspense/thriller genre.
My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...

Key Word: Road
Book: Cemetery Road, by Greg Iles
A long but complex story of the power of the Good Ole Boys network in a southern town, and a fallible hero who took them on. Great story!
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read Native Tongue by Carl Hiaason, second in the Skink series. The wild story and dry humor always makes me laugh, but there is always a good plot buried in the madness.
My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...

I read by Beverly Lowry. A true crime novel that was good, but frustrating.
See my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finally got around to reading Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Wow, can’t wait to see how they do this on screen! A wild ride for sure!
My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read The Black Echo by MIchael Connolly. Sometimes tricky figuring out who was actually in charge, since many in the justice hierarchy here had non-traditional places, but most were covered. We just knew Harry has his own set of rules. Fun to get some background after watching most of the TV series streaming, the feel of the writing was much the same between book and screen.
My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...

Read Hostage by Claire Mackintosh. Wow! This one was really hard to put down, first time I stayed up till 3:30 AM to finish a book! Would have tried to go to bed earlier, but knew I wouldn’t sleep anyway, so plowed on till the end. After watching many Air Disaster shows, could relate to what was discussed regarding the plane procedures. And fair warning - the very final twists in the last pages were no less suspenseful, really threw me for a loop! A great suspense novel, what a wild ride!

Key Word: Another
Book: Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson
Always enjoy the Longmire stories, they are even better than the TV series, but the nice thing is they are not expected to be the same. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Snuck in another one -Naked Heat, by “Richard Castle” aka Tom Straw. Obviously a Nikki Heat/Jameson Rook (Kate Beckett/Richard Castle) duo. This one was a little better than the first in the series, lots of twists. Very much like the TV show vibe, which I always enjoyed anyway. A fun one to round out the month.

I read Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson. My choice of duos is Walt Longmire and his buddy Henry Standing Bear. I have watched the entire TV series, and loved it. Just want to say to anyone unsure about reading the books who has seen the TV series, they are very similar, but the shows don’t copy the books close enough to be frustratingly off. The TV series episodes do grab parts of the books, but they are not meant to be exact copies of the books. The characters are a little different in the books than portrayed in the shows, but still seemed of a single mind, for the most part. I very much enjoy both versions, and highly recommend both the series and the books.

Word: Women
Book: 3rd Degree by James Patterson and Andrew Gross. (It’s one of the “Women’s Murder Club” series.)
A fun ride, if somewhat lacking in depth. More of an action movie, without too much character development. No regrets, will probably keep reading the series when it fits.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...