Book Review-The-Arraignment

The Arraignment

(Paul Madriani #7)

by

Steve Martini

 

The Arraignment is the seventh in the Paul Madriani series written by Steve Martini and is another fast paced story revolving around a lawyer friend of Paul Madriani.

A drive by shooting is central to the plot and most of the story is spent contacting dubious characters who may be held responsible for the shooting. As with all good books even some of the apparently ‘good guys’ have a shady side to them.

A wife, an ex-wife and a child neither of the aforementioned know of all adds to the The Arraignment’s plot.

To say much more will give away too much of the plot. The Arraignment is as good as any other Steve Martini book I have read. If you have not read a Steve Martini book previously, and enjoy the crime genre, I would recommend you try some of Steve Martini’s books.

In my opinion the Paul Madriani series does not need to be read in sequence. Others may disagree. I have read number 14 and now number 7 in the series. I have also read The List which is not part of this series and all have scored four stars from me.

I think

The Arraignment

 

is definitely a

read.

Goodreads readers have rated

The Arraignment

an average of 3.83 stars from 2,426 ratings and 114 reviews

The Arraignment

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

Book Review-Dark-Heart

Dark Heart

by

Tony Park

2014

Dark Heart was my first Tony Park book…but not my last.  I love the plot and central characters.

Made also more enjoyable as I was able recognise many of the South African towns mentioned in the story. My mental picture, of towns and national parks, made the book come alive.

Written in 2012 it is probably the most recent of his books and I have some others on my listening list.

2017
Must confess to re-listening to Dark Heart only because it was still on my iPod and for the first third of the story there were only snippets which triggered déjà vu thoughts in my memory. As the story progressed I began to remember more of it and enjoyed as much the second time around as I did the first.

I still rated Dark Heart as a four star experience and recommend it to anyone who has been in and around Kruger National Park. Whilst not all the story is located in that area there are many mentions which had me thinking ‘I have been there.’

Dark Heart has all the necessary features to make it a good read and maybe even a good movie.  Wildlife poaching, civil war, romance, some really bad dudes and a good guy who just happens to be an Aussie, are all integrated into a fast paced story.

I read several of Tony Park’s novels after my initial reading of

Dark Heart and enjoyed each one.

I think

Dark-Heart

 

is definitely a

read.

Goodreads readers have rated

Dark-Heart

an average of 3.94 stars from 232 ratings and 27 reviews

Dark-Heart

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

Book Review-Matter-of-Trust

Matter of Trust

(David Cavanaugh #5)

by

Sydney Bauer

Four school friends leave school and are now, a wealthy US Senator (Chris), a lawyer (David), a Priest (Mike) and the fourth (Marilyn) remains Chris’ lover throughout her adult years.

When Chris is accused of Marilyn’s murder old friendships are rekindled as David endeavours to defend his friend. However, their partnership is severed when the David discovers the litany of lies being told by David and his family.

An unlikely discovery of evidence proving Chris’ innocence brings David back to defend Chris only two weeks before the trial is to begin.

A suspended career cop, who was working for the prosecution, is David’s closest ally.  Together they work tirelessly to find the real killer while an arrogant prosecutor is doing his best to obstruct any further investigation into the case believing that he has the real killer on trial.

Can the real killer be exposed before the end of the trial?

And can you pick the end of this story?

I think

Matter of Trust

 

is definitely a

read.

Goodreads readers have rated

Matter of Trust

an average of 4.02 stars from 61 ratings and 7 reviews

Matter of Trust

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

Book Review-Fool-Me-Once

 Fool Me Once 

by

Harlan Coben

Fool Me Once written by Harlan Coben tells a story of a young ex military Mum who has married into a wealthy, powerful family. Unfortunately that family seems to attract death, with two immediate members being murdered and several friends also suffering the same fate.

Fool Me Once solves those murders as well as post-traumatic stress disorder.  PTSD becomes a major part of the story after a murder victim is seen on a nanny cam…several days after he is buried. From that point on ex-Military mum, Maya, struggles, against the odds, to discover the truth behind this series of deaths. In doing so she unravels more and more dark secrets of the family in to which she married.

Fool Me Once has a ending which I did not suspect leaving the possibility for a tissue box to be nearby for both sad and happy tears.

As usual I have to have my say about the narrator. For Fool Me Once this is January LaVoy.  January was/is an excellent narrator in my opinion.  Each character was distinguishable when she read their lines which mage Fool Me Once an easy book to listen to.

I thoroughly enjoyed Fool Me Once and would recommend it to any other fans of the murder/mystery/thriller genre.

I think

Fool Me Once

 

is definitely a

read.

Goodreads readers have rated

Fool Me Once

an average of 3.9 stars from 39,625 ratings and 3,802 reviews

Fool Me Once

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

Book Review-Invisible-City

Invisible City

by

Julia Dahl

 

Invisible City, by Julia Dahl is the second book read from my gift compilation of four books.  I might also add that because there were four books in one I assumed, incorrectly, that these would be ‘old’ novels, published perhaps thirty to forty years ago.  However, Invisible City was published on May 6, 2014.

Set among Brooklyn’s Hasidic community this crime story was intriguing especially for this reader whose knowledge of the Hasidic community and most other religions and their practices is very limited.

Invisible City traces the efforts of an aspiring young female stringer (Rebekah Roberts) who is working for the (NY) Tribune.  As with The Dead Beat (by Doug Johnstone) this journalist finds herself in the middle of several murders which take some time to unravel, early in her career.  To my mind I find that point alone is the hardest concept to grasp.

However, I enjoyed Invisible City and for me that is the main criteria when reading.  Did I enjoy it?  True, I don’t know if some of the Jewish cultural practices alluded to were/are fact or fiction.  Does it really matter?  I enjoyed the story.

Most authors take some license when writing to keep their story interesting.  And if reality and this story do not match, is it due to pressure from an editor or publisher to keep the story flowing?  After all there is nothing worse than a story with pages and pages of detail about a character’s dress, hair, appetite and likes or dislikes.

Invisible City is Book 1 of a Rebekah Roberts series and if I can find book two I will read it and then decide on Book 3.  I daresay that it is the latter books which unravel some of Rebekah’s personal issues which were bubbling along in Invisible City.

However, as far as Invisible City is concerned I think it is definitely worth a read…as long as you do not have any religious prejudices as it does focus entirely on the Hasidic community in Brooklyn.

 

 

Definitely a

read.

Invisible City

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

Book Review-The-Woods

The Woods

by

Harlan Coben

A summer camp turns into a nightmare for the owner and several families after six teenage campers, for varying reasons, decide to visit the woods one night.

 Two of them hear screams and find a body.  Two are never seen again, also presumed dead, and the last is found sometime later…also dead.

 Twenty years later one of the missing (presumed dead) victims turns up in a morgue.  A recent homicide victim.

Twenty years later one of the missing (presumed dead) victims turns up in a morgue.  A recent homicide victim.

Could the other girl be alive also?  Or has the homicide victim been mistakenly identified?  These are questions Detective Paul Copeland must find answers to in order to discover if his sister is still alive or was killed in The Woods some twenty years earlier.

 The Woods, by Harlan Coben, is an enjoyable read of how this case is solved.  There are enough twists to keep readers turning pages and most of the story is plausible…almost.  During my formative years at school there were always ‘summer camps’ to which some of the school’s cohort would go each year.  If this book had been written then, maybe there would have been less participants in those camps.

 For the crime, thriller reader (that’s me) this was an enjoyable book.

Definitely a

read.

The Woods

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

Book Review-Cut-To-The-Bone

 

Cut To The Bone 

by

Alex Caan

Cut to the Bone, written by Alex Caan, deals with all things ranging from an apparent abduction, kidnapping, Vlogging (video blogging), social media and how teens or young adults mange to converse happily expose their lives to a faceless online community.

While in pursuit of a hobby which provides a source of income a young girl is abducted.  It is here that we see how vulnerable the young are and how they can groom and be groomed, by a friend, or fan pretending to being someone else in an on-line persona.

The involvement of a multi-national company to financially support vloggers contributes to the plot when the vlogger discovers that sponsors often do not share the same ideals as young bloggers.

As I have often stated the narrator can make or break an audio book.

In this instance I thought Imogen Church injected life into each of the characters in Cut to the Bone, especially the male characters. Doubtless, not everyone will agree with my assessment.

 

A definite three star read.
read.  

Goodreads readers have rated

Cut to the Bone

an average of 3.76 stars from 395 ratings and 108 reviews

Cut to the Bone

can be purchased on-line at 

Fishpond, Booktopia and Amazon

Read in 2017