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R12: SS Team 5 - MI5
Completion post Week 9Spot: 52
Any Means Necessary[~book:Any Means Necessary|40278947]Book: Any Means Necessary (Leona #2) by Jennifer Rognedy
Qualification: #2
Date read: 11/14/20
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Q:
Since they wouldn’t even give me enough information to do their work for them, I personally felt they were welcome to do it themselves. (с) Leona and her sensible attitude... Well, she's more sensible this time around, isn't she?
Leona's kneee deep in all kinds of bad stuff and she seems to be generating ever more of it all. She's struggling with the aftermath of her son's death. She's involved in a terrorism investigation. She's being threatened by a rogue banker (which's a strange thing, considering he didn't provide her with money laundering services, shouldn't he back off with fees for services she didn't need, after all?)
Other stuff:
Q:
In Alexandra’s position, I would have hung up the phone after saying a few choice words to clarify to the head of SÄK that he needn’t be in touch again until he was willing to share the necessary facts. But then, that was likely why I was not in Alexandra’s position. (c)
Week 9 Completion PostSpot 52
[ book:Trunk Music|58962]
Pages: 448
Series: Harry Bosch #5
Date Read: 11/16/20
Rating: 4 stars
Review: This book reunites Harry with a former flame and takes us into an investigation with Mob ties and seedy Las Vegas. It was a very streamlined read with the usual bits of Harry getting into deep water with IAD and higher ups, but a very interesting case all the same. I also appreciate that the show clearly worked to put different angles on the stories to make them both enjoyable. I thought I knew where it was going but got a nice surprise again!
Mod
Week 9
Spot: 52
Book: The Glass Magician
Qualification: 2nd in the Paper Magician series
Finished: 11/16/2020
Rating: ★★★★
Review: This is such a good series. Lots of action. A bit of prospective romance. The heroine does do something stupid though. I was thinking, "Don't do that, you idiot!" I can't wait to read the next book.
Lanelle wrote: "Completion PostWeek 9
Spot: 52
Book: The Glass Magician
Qualification: 3rd in the Paper Magician series
Finished: 11/16/2020
Rating: ★★★★
Review: This is such a good series. Lots..."
This is the second book right? It says third in your post. 😉
Mod
*sigh* You're right. I'll fix my post.
Completion Post: Week 9, Roll 52
Two For The Show by Jane Cousins
pgs: 244
how it fits: #2 in By the Numbers series
finished: 11/16/20
rating: 4 stars
review: Sher is a showgirl with a stalker and Jake has been hired to protect her and find the stalker. They have great chemistry and banter. Good secondary characters and an interesting mystery in finding the stalker.
Selection Post:Week 9
Spot 52
Book:
[ bookcover:The Brutal Telling|6449551]Qualification: #5 in Chief Inspector Armand Gamache
Completion PostSpot 52
11/19
4.5 stars
Review:
This is installment five in the series. I have enjoyed all of the books. However, this one is different than the prior storylines. So far, the installments have been more of a cozy read. This one was more dark and included one of the community's own. Ms. Penny gave the impression Twin Pines was a pristine place to live. This installment depicts the flaws of the residents and reaches deep into their moral characters. I do highly suggest this series be read in order. Can't wait for installment #6!
Completion Post
Week 9:
Current Spot: 52
Alternate: Cover Item: Water
Book: I've Got My Eyes on You
Author: Mary Higgins Clark
Pages: 256
Finished: 11/20/2020
Rating: 3 Stars
How It Fits: water cover item - pool, girl in a pool
Review: Not half as good as her earlier books. Too predictable. Young girl is murdered, body thrown in the pool. Boyfriend is the prime suspect. Next door neighbor thinks her mentally disabled son may have committed the murder. Older sister helps detective on the case. Story is easy to read, but I found it boring and easy too solve. No real suspense or twist. It also reminded me why I stopped reading Mary Higgins Clark.
Week 10: Roll: 10
Previous Spot: 52
Current Spot: 62
Alternate: Author 'R'
Week 10 Selection PostSpot 62
[ book:Angels Flight|32502]
Pages: 454
Series: Harry Bosch #6
Mod
Week 10
Spot: 62
Book: Good Tidings
Qualification: 2nd in the Mary O'Reilly mystery series
Finished: 11/21/2020
Rating: ★★★★
Review: Lots of tension and action. I like that little mysteries were solved along the way, and the big mystery was saved 'til the end. It was quite exciting. There was a bit of a cliff hanger at the end, though.
Week 10 Completion PostSpot 62
[ book:Angels Flight|32502]
Pages: 454
Series: Harry Bosch #6
Date Finished: 11/23/20
Rating: 4 stars
Review: I stayed up until the wee hours this morning to finish this one. Harry gets called in on a very politically sensitive case and has to work with IAD, the feds, and the Chief of Police. He ends up having to investigate a former partner, fellow officers, and even a dominatrix while trying to figure out what the heck is really going on here. Through it all, he is dealing with personal troubles at home that distract him. It was a compelling read and it was interesting seeing Harry forced to evaluate his loyalty and biases.
Completion Post: Week 10 - Roll 62
Something About You by Louisa George
pgs: 250
finished: 11/24/20
how it fits: book 2 of Something Borrowed series
rating: 3 stars
review: Sweet romance where Jenna is planning a surprise wedding for her sister, opening a florist shop, taking care of her 3 year old, finally getting on with her life after her husband's death 3 years ago and denying her attraction to Nick. NIck also has commitment issues after losing friends in combat. It was a sweet and funny story but I felt the main couple should have spend more time together to justify (view spoiler)
Completion Post - Week 10 Roll 62
[ bookcover:Bury Your Dead|7945049]Finished 11/24
How it fits: Book 6 in Chief Inspector Armand Gamache
Rating 4 stars
Review:
In this sixth installment, the inspector and his team are taking a break due to a horrible case that went amuck. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is in Quebec City at the Winter Carnival. Of course, murder always seems to follow the Inspector, and he is willing to offer his services. This installment is a direct continuation from The Brutal Telling (#5). In order to follow and understand this installment, one must read this series in order. There are actually three different investigations going in this installment, but all are easy to follow and keep up with. Looking forward to book #7!
Completion post Spot: 62
To Obey[~book:To Obey|15808545]Book: To Obey (I, Robot: Reichert #2) by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Qualification: #2
Date read: 11/24/20
Rating: 5 stars
Review: Q:
“Isn’t it a wee bit unkind to refer to your patients as edibles?” (c) Yeahh..
Frankly, without Remington, this series was likely to fizzle.... For some reason it didn't, just became more melancholic.
Dr. Susan is as clever as always, even if depressed for obvious reasons... Griefworks, sadness, less-than-inspiring work seem to be it for her in this volume. Than again, being a self-starter, she gets to do things way beyond her paygrade. And help people, of course.
Q:
“Every physician becomes at least a little bit cynical, even the ones used to seeing the glass as full of rainbows.” (c)
The way of inspiration:
Q:
“If I can rescue even one patient from that place, find someone misdiagnosed or mistreated who, with the proper therapy, can lead a reasonably normal life, it’ll be worth every moment of the time and effort.”
...
And even if I can’t find anyone to save, I’ll find a way to bring something positive from this experience, whether it’s the understanding of end of life, empathy for the patients and their families, or a purpose for the incurably demented. Susan rose with new determination. “Somehow this is going to make me a better doctor, if not a better person.” (c)
Completion Post - Week 10
Current Spot: 62
Alternate: Author 'R'
Book: Sacrifices
Author: Roger Smith
Pages: 290
Qualification: author "R"
Date read:11/27/20
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Review: This story takes place in Cape Flats in South Africa. From the beginning you know Christhoper, the son of Beverly and Michael Lane, is a brutal killer. You also know he is a privileged, entitled, bully jacked up on steriods. But, that doesn't stop his parents from manipulating evidence and the system from framing their housekeepers son, a young man they have known his whole life. Prosecutors think of this as a slam dunk. The victim was a young, white woman, all "witnesses" are from an affluent family, the accused, Lynnie, is a drug addicted, young man known to assault his mother when looking for money (as recently as earlier the day of the murder). However, Lynnie's sister knows how the Lanes have covered up Christhoper's past bad behaviors. She knows her brother is being framed. The investigating detective doesn't like the way the case is being rushed (3 days from arrest to trial, with an assurance of conviction). Will Louise, Lynnie's sister, be able to prove the Lanes are lying or find any evidence to help her brother? Will the detective find any evidence to shade doubt on the case? Will anyone in the Lane family have a conscience about sending a young man to jail, for life, for a brutal murder they know he did not committ?
Week 11: Roll: 6
Previous Spot: 62
Current Spot: 68
Alternate: MC travels by train
We got kind of a tricky spot with two high numbers and a perhaps tougher alternate. We can use our bonuses at any point so if anyone thinks they may have trouble with our spot let us know and we can move up to 3 spots.
I don’t know if any of the alternates are much easier but here are the options:
68. MC travels by train
69. Title has a subtitle
70. Cover Item: Mode of Transportation
71. Title 'J'
Mod
I should mention I’m okay with either option too! There is a filler book in the Bosch Universe that I can use for #8 or I can read #7. I’ll hold on posting our spot until the morning to see if anyone has strong feelings about moving. If not we’ll just stick with the roll. :)
I also just saw that at least 2 teams rolled into the 90s spots this week so we probably only have a week or two left in the challenge. I feel like it went fast this time!
I can do 68, but whatever the team wants
Logan wrote: "I also just saw that at least 2 teams rolled into the 90s spots this week so we probably only have a week or two left in the challenge. I feel like it went fast this time!"Wow, some teams must be rolling high a lot. We only had one week of not rolling, correct?
I'm also okay with staying at 68. Even got a nice book planned for 6 :) And for 0 I alwys have something nice planned :)Logan wrote: "I also just saw that at least 2 teams rolled into the 90s spots this week so we probably only have a week or two left in the challenge. I feel like it went fast this time!" Wow! I didn't know that :) Yeah, time flew :)
Whatever the team decides, I'm good with it.
Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Wow, some teams must be rolling high a lot. We only had one week of not rolling, correct?" Yeah, that's what I thought. :) Would be interesting to have a look at the distribution of rolls :)
Okay since everyone is okay with staying and Misericordia had a book picked already let’s stay on 68 then. :)I’ll post our spot.
Mod
You can always snoop in the Post Your Spot thread to see what all the teams are rolling. :)
Week 11 Completion PostSpot 68
[ book:Blood Work|32504]
Pages: 480
Series: Harry Bosch Universe #8
Date Finished: 11/28/20
Rating: 3 stars
Review: This one is the introduction to Terry McCaleb, a retired FBI agent who recently had a heart transplant. Connelly’s various MCs all bleed into each other’s work as part of the same universe. I knew Terry makes an appearance in the next Bosch book, and this storyline was referenced in Bosch #6 when Harry sees a poster for the movie of this book. Did you follow all that? 🤣 So I was excited to try this one before reading Bosch #7 so I could meet Terry.
The plot/crime at the heart (pun intended) of the story was really interesting and made for a quick read. But the romance and frame job subplots felt rushed and boring at the same time. I wish they had been left out. I also felt some descriptions were way too long. Overall this one needed a stronger edit but the story was enough to keep me hooked. I’m ready to go back to Bosch!
Completion post Spot: 68
Druid Vices and a Vodka[~book:Druid Vices and a Vodka|52292662]Book: Druid Vices and a Vodka (The Guild Codex: Spellbound, #6) by Annette Marie
Qualification: #6
Date read: 11/30/20
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
More beautiful and magical happenings happening. The druid Zak is back to his nasty self. Tori's familiars are as usually helpful (and nice to have, for a newly 'found' witch). Ezra needs a lot more help than he's getting but drat, who are we kidding: everyone's doing whatever they can already.
It's so very good to see how Tori's growing into herself. Really good character dev. (Well, for Urban fantasy, anyway).
Completion Post: week 11, spot 68
Have Yourself a Fudgy Little Christmas by Nancy CoCo
finished: 12/1/20
qualification: book 8 in Candy-Coated Mystery series
rating: 3 stars
review: a newcomer is poisoned and Frances is under suspicion, so Allie takes on the case to clear her. We learn something about Frances's past and meet the "book" club as they band together to help. Also Rex's ex is in town and there is a new guy on the scene (seriously I thought we were over the love triangles)
Mod
Week: 11
Spot: 68
Book: Courage
Author: Taylor Longford
Pages: 148
Date Read: 12/2/2020
How it fits: 8th in a series
It was nice to finally get to the missing Greystone brother. He was lost for so long, and then we only got glimpses of his whereabouts in the previous books. How he was healed from his horrible burns was a little unbelievable, but it worked out in the end. The book was a good addition to the series.
Completion Post - Week 11
Spot: 68
Alternate: MC travels by train
Book: Lies, Lies, Lies
Author: Adele Parks
Pages: 384
Date Read: 12/2/2020
How it fits: MC, Daisy, travels by train to the beach for daughter's birthday celebration.
Review:☆☆☆☆ I enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend it, especially if you like stories with flawed characters. The story is told from Simon and Daisy's viewpoint. Alcoholism, lies and outside influences have a destructive effect on their relationship and family. Twists (lies and truths) are gradually revealed through the story. I found myself feeling sorry for some of the characters while questioning their actions. And yes, for me there was one character that was definitely unlikable.
Spot 68
Louise Penny
How the book qualifies: Book 8 in Inspector Gamache series
Completed 12/3
4 Stars
Review: No outsiders are ever admitted to the monastery. The monks who live inside vow silence. However, they raise their amazing voices to ancient chants. The plot on this one was very slow to develop. The installment bases the plot on character building, including the monastery and the inspectors. If you are looking for murder, suspense, and fast paced, try for another installment in the series. This one is similar to a psychological thriller.
Logan,If you want to post the link, I’ll roll early in the morning around 5:30. This is exciting to have all the reviews in!
Sounds like a plan! I’ll check in when I wake up and post our spot. The tracking post is all updated.
I can post the link since it’s updated. You’ve had to handle everything lately!
Week 12:Roll 9 (5 + 4)
Previous Spot: 68
Current Spot 77
Alternate: Title ‘F’
Logan - I posted and updated our spot. There's a team that hit 103 so looks like this is our last week.
The Challenge Factory
Books mentioned in this topic
Steamed Open (other topics)The Face in the Frost (other topics)
A Darkness More Than Night (other topics)
The Beautiful Mystery (other topics)
The Beautiful Mystery (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
John Bellairs (other topics)Louise Penny (other topics)
Adele Parks (other topics)
Taylor Longford (other topics)
Nancy CoCo (other topics)
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Spot 52
[ book:Trunk Music|58962]
Pages: 448
Series: Harry Bosch #5