Currently Reading? Just Finished? Showing 7,351-7,400 of 10,166

[Susan]

I started reading Stardust by Joseph Canon for my mystery book club.

[Ava Catherine]

Finished A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail Bill Bryson

Reading:

Pomegranate Soup Marsha Mehran

A Walk Across the Sun Corban Addison

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Jean-Dominique Bauby

[Tay]

Tim wrote: "I am literally dragging my way to the end of by Phillip Margolin. I wonder how it got published, why anyone would recommend it and why I am reading it. SO my big..."

I read that a long time ago. I too struggled to get finish that book.

I recommend James Swain's Midnight Rambler if you're looking for serial killer good cop catches bad guy type book.

[Julie]

I just finished and started

[Ann]

I finished
now reading

[Renee]

Just started The Poacher's Son by Paul Doiron.

[Gatorman]

Just started Tonight I Said Goodbye. Just finished Edge of Dark Water, Before I Go To Sleep and Stranglehold.

[Dorie]

Ann wrote: "I finished
now reading "

Wow, you're really moving through them, aren't you Ann? I'm impressed! LOL

[Ann]

Thanks Dorie, I like Captain Lacey and all his friends and I just got a new Kindle and the books were not that much so I got them all lol....

[Dorie]

Ann wrote: "Thanks Dorie, I like Captain Lacey and all his friends and I just got a new Kindle and the books were not that much so I got them all lol...."

I hear you, I love that they were so good yet inexpensive. Another author you may want to try out is P.B. Ryan. I loved her Nell Sweeney series. The first book is Still Life With Murder and is free for Kindle. The remaining books are inexpensive.

[Marilyn]

finally finished I was a bit disappointed but don't know why. I think there was almost too much plot and too much backround if that makes any sense to anyone

[Renee]

Found on the library sale table and started immediately: The Anatomist's Apprentice.

[Ctgt]

Just finished Alpha. I really enjoyed his Atticus Kodiak series, especially Walking Dead and was looking forward to a new character from Rucka. I was a little disappointed with the character development for Jad and there were a couple of scenes that slowed the narrative down for me.

[Steffi]

reading

[Ann]

Dorie wrote: "Ann wrote: "Thanks Dorie, I like Captain Lacey and all his friends and I just got a new Kindle and the books were not that much so I got them all lol...."

I hear you, I love that they were so good..."

yes I have it on my Kindle and will reading it after I finish the Captain Lacey books. Thanks again for your help and if you think of any other authors please let me know.

[Ann]

finished

now reading

[Gatorman]

Stefanie wrote: "reading "

Great book. Enjoy!

[John]

I'm almost finished with The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry. This has been a very enjoyable book, maybe his best. I like that the story is told from various points of view and all the interconnecting story elements.

[Sharon]

Just finished and while I had some issues with it, I was pleasantly surprised that the author does, in fact ... as advertised ... know his horse world.

I can understand the number of reviewers who have suggested this author may eventually be able to fill the place held for so long by Dick Francis. I did have some issues with the book, but at least the horse world was presented with accuracy, which is usually not the case.

[Barbara]

I'm reading The Crush by Sandra Brown

[Nigel]

Harvest Of Ruins by Sandra Ruttan:

This book has a great opening. It’s like crashing into a swimming pool from the flumes into deep-cold water as it takes a little time to find orientation.
On the surface, this book is a courtroom drama, a very good one at that.
Hunter is a detective and she’s on trial for setting in motion a chain of events which led to the killing of Tom, her partner at work and also her partner (even though he’s married to someone else) in her personal life. The story opens with Tom being shot by his own daughter, Vinny, who puts a serious full-stop on the arguing of her estranged parents.
Sandra Ruttan uses a number of methods to reveal the story behind the killing, one which followed the deaths of a number of teenagers in the area. She uses the courtroom, a diary, Vinnie’s work from English class, conversations with colleagues and a series of dreams she’s been having from Vinnie’s perspective. The range is big, and I was concerned that it wasn’t going to hold together; it turned out I was wrong to be worried as each of the fragments remains solid. It’s a credit to Rattan that she not only holds all the pieces together, but that she creates genuine tension and a powerful desire to find out the true facts in a way that I an only resort to cliché to report that I found page-turning.
To leave it there wouldn’t do the book justice.
It examines some of the sensitive aspects of parenting, friendships and growing u with real skill, tenderness and insight. How vulnerable the young can be and how far the grown-ups of this world will go to cover up the vulnerabilities that linger.
Whether you enjoy a police-procedural, a courtroom drama or a more serious examination of life and its relationships, this is likely to be a book for you.

[Ann]

I finished

[Dorie]

I finished , which I thought was very good. It's the first of a planned trilogy and I will definitely be reading the next book.

Meanwhile I finally got from the library and have started reading it.

[Linda]

Tim wrote: "I am literally dragging my way to the end of by Phillip Margolin. I wonder how it got published, why anyone would recommend it and why I am reading it. SO my big..."

Tim, I'm sad that you did not like the Phillip Margolin book, I love him!!!

[John]

Started The Last Coach: A Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant by Allen Barra today. Its not a mystery, but I'm getting geared up for the college football season.

[Autumn]

Reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn right now. I am really enjoying it so far!

[Gatorman]

Linda wrote: "Tim wrote: "I am literally dragging my way to the end of by Phillip Margolin. I wonder how it got published, why anyone would recommend it and why I am reading it..."

I read one Margolin book and found it lame and cliche-ridden. Never picked up another.

[Georgia]

Just finished . I found her to be a very mature writer. Loved that she had
great faith in what young people can accomplish and shows how one can waste one"s life. The ending is a little "up in the air" but isn't that how life is?
The book is about 4 abandoned children who help a man who is fleeing those who wish to kill him and also
the police. I would give this book 4 to 5 stars.
Now I am going to start

[Sharon]

Reading Still Life With Murder which very good up to the halfway point.

[Ann]

reading

[Steffi]

just finished and loved it. now starting with

[Sharon]

Just finished which was a very good read.

This one is still available free for Kindle at Amazon and I've already put more of the series on my want list.

[Tad]

Just started Kill Decision. High-tech thriller. Pretty good so far.

[Brenda]

Sharon wrote: "Just finished which was a very good read.

This one is still available free for Kindle at Amazon and I've already put more of the series on my want list."

Thanks Sharon, I just picked up a copy:)

[Brenda]

I have just started The Camel Club by David Baldacci Good so far:)

[Brenda]

Ursula wrote: "I'm currently reading Die Trying by Lee Child"

Loved ALL Lee Child's Jack Reacher series:) Can't wait for his new one each time it comes out!

[Barbara]

I'm reading The Final Detail by Harlan Coben

[Tay]

Stefanie wrote: "just finished and loved it. now starting with "

How would you compare The Passage with The Strain?

[Ctgt]

Ursula wrote: "I'm currently reading Die Trying by Lee Child"

I just finished Killing Floor and really enjoyed it. I'll be checking out Die Trying before too long.

[Gatorman]

Tay wrote: "Stefanie wrote: "just finished and loved it. now starting with "

How would you compare The Passage with The Strain?"

Not speaking for Stephanie, but I found The Passage to be much better than The Strain.

[Jan]

I read A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths and enjoyed it, but not as much as I enjoyed the first 3 books in the series.

[Ann]

reading

[Brenda]

I just finished Embryo by J.A. Schneider An unbelievably gripping thriller with 5 stars from me!

[Malina]

just finished "The Survivor" by Gregg Huriwitz.

[GlenK]

Currently reading A Game of Lies by Rebecca Cantrell. I believe this is the best so far of the series.

[Donna, Co-Moderator]

Finished a few things recently. Listened to Hit List and A Share In Death and read Mr. Churchill's Secretary and The Inquisitor's Key.

The Hit List and A Share in Death are older books by authors I have somehow missed reading before. The trouble with finding and enjoying an early book in a series which has gone on to have many, many more books is that Mt. TBR just gets higher and higher!

The Inquisitor's Key is the newest in the Body Farm series by Jefferson Bass. I enjoyed the history, setting, and science but I understand that this one is a bit of a departure for the series so I'll have to add the earlier Body Farm books - to Mt. TBR too.

Finally, Mr. Churchill's Secretary, was a mystery/thriller that was also an entertaining look at life during the early days of the blitz in London. More to come in this series too.

[Anita]

Just finished The Risk Agentby Ridley Pearson which introduces a new set of characters. Also read the quirky The Spellman Filesby Lisa Lutz which was quite different from what I normally read. I'm now onto The Terra-Cotta Dog which is the second in the series set in Sicily by Andrea Camilleri. The cultural background and notes are quite interesting and add flare to the story.

[Nigel]

Before the main event, a mention for my current read. WEE ROCKETS http://www.amazon.com/Wee-Rockets-ebo... by the excellent GERARD BRENNAN is a real joyride of a book. It's published by BLASTED HEATH and it's free today, so I'd get over there and get a copy if I were you. You won't regret it, I promise.

Now on to CHARLIE WILLIAMS.

I loved DEADFOLK, the story of Royston Blake’s adventures in the town of Mangle. I loved it so much that I didn’t’ feel able to move on to BOOZE AND BURN http://www.amazon.com/Booze-and-Burn-... for fear it might just not do Blake justice. Now I’ve been there, I realise I needn’t have worried. All I’ve been doing is wasting time.

The other issue that can spoil a follow-up book is the over-doing of the references to the previous work. Charlie Williams kicked that one in to touch early on as Blake addresses the reader and says of Deadfolk:

‘You what? Forget it pal. I ain’t telling you that story no more. I’ve told it enough times already – especially to the cops and I’m sick of it. You want to know about the guns and chainsaws, go ask someone else. Everyone knows around here.”

Perfectly handled.

In Royston Blake, I reckon we have the world’s finest unreliable, first-person narrator. He’s a warts-and-all story-teller who’s neither afraid to embellish or to cut himself to the quick (then again, Royston’s not afraid of anything).


He’s back on the door at Mangles’ premier drinking establishment (Hoppers), throwing his increasing weight around as only he can. It doesn’t take long for the new equilibrium of Mangle to be disturbed when a new face arrives in town. Not only is the guy an outsider, he’s soon to become the owner of Hoppers and the supplier of a new kind of sweet/drug to the young of the town.


One of the gang of young is Mona. She’s had a personality change since being introduced to the new drug and she’s fallen for the supplier. Mona’s father, Doug, employs Blake’s services to sort out the guy, which is the point at which the story explodes.


I’m so impressed by Charlie Williams. He’s created an even more special book in Booze And Burn than he managed in Deadfolk.


Blake’s character is even sharper as are those of the others in the cast. Blake’s a real rogue – the cleanest term I can think of to make sure this doesn’t offend the Amazon boards – but he’s immensely loveable with it, for reasons I don’t entirely understand. Many was the time I wanted to put my arm around the guy (metaphorically, of course, as my arms would need to be twice as long to do the job) and have a whisper in his ear – “You don’t want to be doing that, Blake.” Or “Why don’t you try saying it this way instead?” Not that he’d listen.


The plot here is developed and a perfect pace. It becomes fairly complex, but is always easy to stay with. There are plenty of cliff-hangers to keep a reader interested. The turns of phrase are superb and Williams is a master of the simile – “[I]wanted nothing more than the comfort of clean sheets and a firm mattress, though...the mattress were about fifty year old and as firm as an old man’s tadger.”

Blake’s is also a master when it comes to shoving his boots into his own mouth. Here, he’s trying to make his recently attacked girlfriend feel better about some damage to her face – “ ‘Reckon you won’t be doin’ much more strippin’, I says, giving her a friendly smile. ‘Less you wears a paper bag.” ‘

All in all, Booze And Burn shines a light onto things we might rather not see, then throws in a magnifying glass to make the focus more unpleasantly clear. Britain at its worst can have a defensive, island mentality, compounded by small-town attitudes, brutally sharp tongues and minds narrower than barges.


For me, the book takes the Ghost Town of The Specials, the darkness of the Thatcher years, the cultural highs of Clint Eastwood and Minder and uses the energy to create the most wonderful set of characters imaginable. Blake would have no problem wrestling any Spitting Image character to the ground, knocking the hardest from Viz to the ground, out-seducing Lady Chatterley's lover or drinking Homer Simpson under a table. It’s funny, powerful, clever, brutal and a total joy from opening to close.

Royston Blake – Cheers.

[Barbara]

I finished The Crush by Sandra Brown; good if you like romance/suspense novels but it had too much romance for me. 3 stars.

[Julie Perham]

I just finished
Doc
and am reading Shadow of Night while waiting for Judgment Call: A Brady Novel of Suspense to be released on Tuesday. I think the last true mystery I read was probably Gone Girl or The Spellman Files, both of which I enjoyed, but for completely different reasons!