Book Review-Juror-#3

Juror #3

by

James Patterson & Nancy Allen

 

Juror #3, written by Nancy Allen and James Patterson was recommended to me by another Goodreads reader.  I listened to an audio version while working at my computer, completing the book in fairly quickly.

 

After going to school in small town Rosedale, Ruby returns to practice law.  Major difference is that she is no longer initially recognised as many of her peers have also moved on.

She is struggling to make ends meet and has not been a practicing lawyer for very long.  Told by a Judge, to represent an accused murderer does nothing for her reputation in a state where African-Americans are still thought of as second class citizens by some of the town’s folk.

Due to Ruby’s diligence she gets her client acquitted and six months later Ruby finds herself being called upon to defend her ex-fiancé who is also accused of murder.  This time she is perceived to be batting for the ‘upper end of town’.  However, by this time she has a partner and the accused is her partner’s nephew.  Confusing?  Small towns!

I enjoyed listening to Juror #3.  It was fast paced well narrated by Megan Tusing.  Kudos everywhere for the wonderful character voices…particularly Aunt Susanne.

James Patterson fans will love it.

At the time of writing Goodreads readers

Goodreads readers have rated 

Juror #3 an average of 3.83 stars,

from 6,180 ratings and 616 reviews.

I rated

Juror #3 a solidread.

Juror #3

can be purchased on-line at 

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

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Book Review-Beware-of-the-Dog

Beware of the Dog

(Cliff Hardy  #15)

by

Peter Corris

 

Although I have not read all of the Cliff Hardy novels, Beware of the Dog is the fifteenth in the Cliff Hardy series of novels by Peter Coriss.  It was my tenth Cliff Hardy read, which leaves me with over thirty to read if I want to read all available in the series.

 

Beware of the Dog begins with Cliff Hardy lecturing students at a Sydney College of Technical and Further Education (TAFE).  After the lecture he is approached by a student for an interview.  Quite rightly Cliff is sceptical about this and declines until she follows him to his office.

Upon accepting her as his client Hardy becomes wary of his new client’s mental stability.  The client also wants Cliff to follow her husband.  From there on there is twist upon twist and it did take some concentration to follow who belonged to whom.  And who is related to whom and any more will spoil the story.

Beware of the Dog is narrated by Peter Hosking who is an ideal narrator of the Hardy series of books.

As with all the Cliff Hardy books I have read so far, Beware of the Dog is a quick, enjoyable three star read.

I think

Beware of the Dog

is a

read.

Goodreads readers have rated

Beware of the Dog

an average of 3.60 stars from 98 ratings and 10 reviews

Beware of the Dog

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia and Amazon

 

Book Review-Death-Mask

 

Death Mask

(Dr. Anya Crichton, #5)

by

Kathryn Fox

 

 

 

Death Mask was my fifth Kathryn Fox book according to Goodreads, and won’t be my last.

Death Mask commences with Dr Anya Crichton having a bride (Hannah) and groom of six weeks being referred to her to try and figure out why the bride has, not one but two, sexually transmitted diseases while her husband is clean.  One of Hannah’s aims in life was not to have sexual intercourse with her boyfriend/fiancé until their wedding night.  Now six weeks later and no other males in her life she as two different sexually transmitted diseases!

Anya is the third medical professional to have consulted with Hannah and it is not until Hannah’s husband is coerced into leaving the room that the truth begins to unfold.  From there it doesn’t take Anya long for figure out the ‘how’ and ‘why’, disgusting as both may be.

Fast forward a week or two, and we find Anya in New York where she has been employed by the USA’s National Football League to investigate some players, their off field behaviour and particularly their behaviour with, or towards, women.

 

Anymore and there will be spoilers left, right and centre, so I will continue with kudos for the narrator, Jennifer Vuletic.  Although I only have television and movies for accent comparisons, I believe Jennifer Vuletic has narrated this novel extremely well.  And if, to New Yorkers, these accents are way off the mark, Ms Vuletic at least provided this listener with what I felt were clear character voices, which makes an audiobook so much more enjoyable.

As usual I enjoyed this Anya Crichton novel and rated it a three star read plus one more for the topic.

Death Mask

is a solid

star read.

At the time of writing my review,

Goodreads readers have rated

Death Mask

an average of 3.80 from 478 ratings and 59 reviews

Death Mask

can be purchased on-line at 

Fishpond, Booktopia and Amazon

Book Review-Jar-of-Hearts

Jar of Hearts

by

Jennifer Hillier

 

Someone once told me that raising boys was much easier than raising girls.  After my last two reads, where mid-teenage girls feature I am inclined to agree that it may be so, although I don’t have a daughter for a fair comparison.

Jar of Hearts, a thriller by Jennifer Hillier, is a story about two sixteen year old girls.  Angela (the teenage beauty) and Georgina (Geo) are best friends.  However, one night Angela fails to return home.  Extensive enquiries provide no leads and she is eventually placed on the ‘missing persons’ list.

Fourteen years down the track Geo is arrested for Angela’s murder.  While this may appear to be a spoiler, it’s not, because this where is where the story begins.

After lengthy prison sentence I had a feeling that we have not heard the complete story of Angela and Geo’s relationship or the night Angela was murdered.  And that is what makes Jar of Hearts intriguing.

The story of the sixteen year olds relationship and Angela’s death is slowly revealed in flashback mode.  With each revelation that nagging feeling of ‘there’s more to this than meets the eye’ continues.

During the last third of this story readers may or may not be able to pick the ending.  However, I didn’t.

I really felt like reading an Enid Blyton book after my last two reads…again, I didn’t.

I recommend Jar of Hearts to readers of the crime/thriller genre.

 

  Goodreads Readers have rated

Jar of Hearts

an average of

4.11 stars from 6,876 ratings

and 1,981 reviews 

I rated

Jar of Hearts

aread.

Jar of Hearts

can be purchased on-line at 

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

Book Review-Dawn-Girl

Dawn Girl

by

Leslie Wolfe

(Tess Winnett  #1)

Having been asked to be a beta reader for an as yet unpublished thriller I saw Dawn Girl advertised on.

Dawn Girl was a random, spur of the moment Amazon purchase but hopefully won’t be my last of Leslie Wolfe’s book.  Although to be honest, I didn’t like Dawn Girl…I loved it!    In fact I have read it twice simply because I had forgotten to write a review and had story lines blurred.  However, Dawn Girl was as good second time around as it was first time.

Dawn Girl is the media name given to a girl murdered and posed on the beach only a few yards away from where two teens were watching a sunrise.

FBI agent Tess Winnett is assigned the case.  Plagued by her own demons, Tess comes with a short fuse and an acerbic tongue, which, combined with her solitary nature and distrust of people, often lands her in trouble with local law enforcement as well as her FBI superiors.

She soon recognises that the murder is the work of a serial killer.  However, one body does not make a serial killer unless….there are other bodies.  At this point Tess commences a long lengthy task of proving her theory to her superiors.  In pursuit of the truth and a serial killer Tess often disobeys orders from her superiors.  Because she is right!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this fresh look (for me) at the crime/thriller genre.  I have also read the other three Tess Winnett books and Leslie Wolfe’s story telling has held my attention all the way.

Goodreads readers have rated

Dawn Girl

an average of 

4.28 stars

from 4,720 ratings and 228 reviews 

 I have rated 

Dawn Girl

a solidread.

Dawn Girl 

can be purchased online at 

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

Book Review-Red-Tide

 

Red Tide 

(Billy Knight Thrillers #2)

by

Jeff Lindsay

Read: September 2018

My second consecutive Billy Knight ‘thriller’ by Jeff Lindsay, and I must confess that it was a thrill to read/listen to the last pages of this, again, boring ‘thriller’. If anything it was less interesting than Billy Knight #1.

I would suggest googling the definition of thriller before Billy Knight #3 or any other so-called ‘thriller’ is published. Better still read some of Jennifer Hillier’s books, or even Dawn Girl by Leslie Wolfe. I enjoyed Dawn Girl so much that I have several more of Wolfe’s novels to read.

Finally as an Australian reader (and reviewer) may I suggest that taking a swipe at Australia and anything Australian (or any other nationality, for that matter) is not the way to win friends and influence people: especially when it happens in each of Billy Knight’s books.

“Your name’s Billy, not Silly” said Aussie character Nicky who always seemed to have a few Kangaroos loose in the top paddock. Lindsay then proceeded with a lengthy description of Australian rhyming slang. Lindsay concludes this must be because we name our towns/places with names such as Kalgoorlie (Western Australia), Woolloomooloo and Wollongong (New South Wales). Sure there are many place names which are taken directly or are derivatives of Native Australian local languages/dialects. In both Billy Knight 1 & 2, Lindsay is happy to take the mickey out of Nicky.

I would suggest he have a bopeep in his own backyard before taking the micky out of anyone again. At least get the research right. Click, or copy and paste this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of…

to find a list of Native American Place names which have direct links to, or origins from either Native American, Mexican, Polynesian or Athabaskan languages.

Struth! If this bloke had got off his Khyber Pass and bothered to take a Captain Cook on the world wide web, or even get on the old Dog an’ Bone and asked someone who might know, he would have quickly learned, maybe, that Aussie rhymin’ slang and our unusual place names have little in common. Why? Coz one is local, the other originates in the Mother Country with a few Down Under twists. With better research this could a bin a ripsnorter of a read. Instead it’s a Barry Crocker! 

Only ONE star from this reader and no more Billy Knight thrillers for me.

 

At the time of completing this review,

on September, 2018

Goodreads readers have rated

Red Tide

an average of 

3.53 stars

from 147 ratings and 34 reviews 

Tropical Depressions rates:

3.64 stars, 175 ratings, 29 reviews

 A read.

Red Tide

can be purchased on-line at 

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

Book Review-Tropical-Depression

 

Tropical Depression 

(Billy Knight Thrillers #1)

by

Jeff Lindsay

Read: August 2018

I initially borrowed Billy Knight #2 (Red Tide) from the local library, and decided to listen to the Billy Knight #1 Thriller, Tropical Depression.  Before I commenced the ‘thriller’ I noticed another Goodreads reader commenting that 75% of a very dull story was enough.   The first chapter/track seemed so disjointed that I had to listen to it twice.  However, I will concede that first listen consisted of very short drives.  Listening to the beginning of new book requires some concentration and extended periods of listening to ‘get into it’.

I still don’t know why we needed to hear how untidy and high the weeds were in Billy’s garden.  We were also introduced to several acquaintances all of which had little or nothing to do with the story line.  One such character was an Australian….with a Cockney accent!!!  To make matters worse the narrator could not even hold the accent.  Sentences would begin with a Cockney sounding accent and slowly revert to the narrator’s normal voice.

 

Again in my opinion there is a fine line between conversation and narrative in a thriller or mystery.  I do not like either one to outweigh the other especially if it appears to simply be filling a page or chapter.  When authors begin to describe the height of weeds in a garden, the hues of wall paint, provide in-depth detailed descriptions of another character’s clothes or dust in a room, it has to be relevant to the story.  I find that narrative very, very boring.

The short version of this story is the Billy Knight is an ex-cop.  A friend’s son is killed.  Soon after which the aforementioned friend is also killed.

I did listen to the whole story.  Not the worst book I have heard/read, however certainly not the best.  I will also give Tropical Depression two stars; one for publishing and one because I could not write a children’s book let alone a novel.  However, it has a long way to go before it is of thriller status, in my opinion.

 

At the time of completing this review,

on August, 2018

Goodreads readers have rated

Tropical Depression

an average of 

3.65 stars

from 172 ratings and 28 reviews 

 A read.

Tropical Depression 

can be purchased on-line at 

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon