Book-Review-Refusal

Refusal

by

Dick  Francis

 

Refusal, was my first novel written by Dick Francis and the fifth book featuring Sid Halley.  Sid is a retired jumps jockey who conducted an investigation until he received one bashing more than his wife could stand.  Now he earns an income from his stocks and shares.

His quiet life turns a tad awry when a good friend, Sir Richard Stewart, approaches him with a list of horse races which Stewart maintains have been fixed.  Sid refuses to help.  The following morning Sir Richard is found dead.  Police call it a suicide, whilst those who knew Stewart think murder.  

Shortly after Stewart’s death, Halley receives a phone call Om a male with an Irish accent suggesting the Halley should indeed write a report clearing racing of any wrongdoings. 

From here the story moves up another gear, terrified jockeys, child abduction and arson are some of the incidents which make Refusal a page turner.

 I thoroughly enjoyed Refusal and would recommend to lovers of the ‘whodunit’ genre.

I have also been informed that all Dick Francis books revolve around the Britain’s racing industry.  Therefore I look forward to more novels authored by Francis.

Refusal, moves along at a fast pace and I believe would make a good read and is an excellent audiobook.

 

I rated

Refusal 

as a

read.

 

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Refusal

an average of 3.94 stars

from 2,763 ratings

and 347 reviews.

Refusal

can be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

 

Book Review-Innocent-Man

The Innocent Man

by

John Grisham

***

Jon Grisham’s, The Innocent Man would have gone unread had I read the burb.  However, I didn’t and it hasn’t.  I am not a fan of true stories.

 The Innocent Man tracks Ron Williamson’s futile attempts to move from country baseball to Oklahoma’s major league baseball.  When eventually delisted, Ron returns to Ada, his home town, where several years later a cocktail waitress is murdered.  Ron and friend Dennis Fritz are regarded by local law enforcement as prime suspects.  Five years after the event both are arrested, charged with murder, tried and found guilty and sentenced to death.  All based on the evidence of jail house snitches, alleged dream confession and shonky experts.

The scariest part of this book is the fact that innocence is no longer presumed by America’s justice system.  Ron Williamson was down to a week before his execution date when the stay of execution was handed down.  And that was only because the bloke destined to read his appeal actually read the trial transcript and brought inconsistencies to his boss.  An entirely different outcome would have resulted had it not been for this zealous clerk.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Innocent Man.  However, I must also confess to being a John Grisham junkie.  The Innocent Man being my twenty-fourth of Grisham’s books.

The Innocent Man moved along at a good pace and did not dwell on the tedium of everyday life; a detail which has seen me not wanting to read true life stories.

I rated

Innocent Man

as a solid read

*****

At the time of writing my review,

Goodreads readers have rated

Innocent Man

an average of 3.83 stars

from 66,406 ratings

and 5,096 reviews

Innocent Man

can be purchased on-line at 

Fishpond, Booktopia and Amazon

Book-Review-Pay-The-Penance-3

~~~~~

 

Pay The Penance

(The Mechanic Trilogy #3)

by

Rob Ashman

Pay The Penance, my third Rob Ashman read and book three of The Mechanic Trilogy, finds Lucas, Harper and Bassano still recovering from the brutal murder of Lucas’ wife in book 2.

 

Chasing and bringing Mechanic to justice is far from their collective minds that is, until Bassano is murdered.   Lucas and Harper are in no doubt that it is the work of the Mechanic and that they will be next on her list.

 

A story about the Mechanic would not be complete without a series of murders her for Harper and Lucas to follow.  As part of their investigation they stray outside the law, at times.

 

While Detective Moran endeavours to get her professional life in order, new evidence is discovered with police not grasping its significance.  However Moran does recognise its career threatening significance and she must divert her superior’s attention away from the evidence to survive.

 

Again I thoroughly enjoyed the last of

The Mechanic Trilogy

and have rated

Pay The Penance

as a solid

read.

 

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers have awarded

Pay The Penance

an average of 4.51 stars

from 533 reviews

and 56 ratings.

 

Pay The Penance

can be purchased on-line at 

Fishpond, Booktopia and Amazon

 

*****

Book Review-The-Girl-From-Silent-Lake

The Girl From Silent Lake

(Dr. Kay Sharp #1)

by

Leslie Wolfe

Leslie Wolfe’s latest offering, The Girl From Silent Lake featuring FBI profiler Kay Sharp, began with a bang followed by several chapters during which characters and their back stories were introduced.  I felt that these chapters impacted significantly on the first, by slowing the flow considerably.  Fortunately, after character introductions, the pace of The Girl from Silent Lake increased with each chapter.

FBI profiler Kay Sharp leaves her ‘glamorous’ job to return to her home town of Mount Chester after her brother, at his first court appearance, is given six months jail time for what is little more than a push and shove bar fight during which he was severely provoked into throwing a punch.

Sharp has barely unpacked when she is visited by Elliot, a member of local law enforcement.  A grave and body had been discovered at Silent Lake; the work of a serial killer according to Dr Kay Sharp, our FBI heroine.

From here the pace of The Girl From Silent Lake increases with each chapter culminating in a nail biting climax during which…..

You will have to read The Girl From Silent Lake to find out.

I rated The Girl From Silent Lake as a solid four star read.

I’m looking forward to the April 23, 2021 release of the next Kay Sharp novel, Beneath Black Water River (Sharp #2).

I rated

The Girl From Silent Lake

as a solidstar read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

The Girl From Silent Lake

an average of 4.54 stars

from 237 ratings

and 88 reviews

The Girl From Silent Lake

is available online

at 

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

Book-Review-1st-Case

1st Case

by

James Patterson

James Patterson’s 1st Case, featuring Angela Hoot who is a young IT genius who was asked to leave Massachusetts Institute of Technology after hacking into some computers within the MIT network.

Naturally Angela is despondent and is concerned she will no longer be employable.   Luckily, as is often the case with hackers, she is offered an internship with the FBI.   Soon finding herself thrown into her first case, a suburban family of five brutally murdered

Angela soon realises that her hacking skills are no longer to be used frivolously, people are relying on her to hack into to any piece of technology found at or near a crime scene and actually help solve crimes.  The question is; can Angela hack into and help solve crimes?

As usual Patterson’s books move along at a nice pace ad 1^st Case was no exception.  Narrator, Brittany Pressley, did an excellent job of narrating 1^st Case.

 

I have rated

1st Case

as a solid read.

~~~

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

1st Case

an average of 4.00 stars

from 6,186 ratings

and 528 reviews.

~~~

1st Case

can be purchased on-line at 

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

Book Review-Long-Road-to-Mercy

Long Road to Mercy

(Atlee Pine #1)

by

David Baldacci

 

Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci is the first of three books, so far, featuring FBI Agent, Atlee Pine.  The underlying storyline is that of Atlee finding her twin sister, Mercy, who was abducted when they were six.  However Atlee’s job as FBI Agent relegates her personal desires to the background during Long Road to Mercy.

Stationed in a small town near The Grand Canyon, Atlee finds herself invested in the murder of a mule and the disappearance of its presumably, tourist rider.  Atlee is soon drawn into this mysterious murder and missing person case.  She seems to be making headway when she receives orders to stand down from her superiors.  While loyal to her employer Atlee is not so easily brushed off a case.  She is told to take some vacation time which gives her the opportunity to go off the grid to solve this mystery with the help of her secretary, Carol, a long time FBI employee.

The problem for Pine is she doesn’t know who are the real villains.  Is it the Russians, the North Koreans or rogue elements of her own government?  Or could two be working against the third?

As with all good heroes, Atlee not only saves the day but the world.

I enjoy David Baldacci’s novels one reason being that they move along at a good pace.  Long Road to Mercy is no exception.

I have rated

Long Road to Mercy

a solid

four stars.

 

Other Goodreads readers have rated

Long Road to Mercy

an average of 3.83 stars

from 47,200 ratings

 and 3,462 reviews.

Long Road to Mercy

may be purchased online at

Fishpond, Booktopia and Amazon

 

Book-Review-Guilty-Not-Guilty

Guilty, Not Guilty

by

Felix  Francis

 

Guilty, Not Guilty, was my first, but will definitely not be my last, Felix Francis audiobook.

 

Guilty, Not Guilty, follows the trials and tribulations of Bill Russel after he is advised that his wife has been found murdered.  A few days after his wife’s death Bill is arrested for her murder after his nasty brother-in-law pointed the finger at him.   It didn’t seem to matter to police that Bill was so far away from home.

 

With nearly all of Bill’s friends and work colleagues declaring him guilty in the court of public opinion the outlook for Bill is rather grim.  The trial and verdict appears rather conclusive.  However, there is one more twist in this tale.  A twist which is inferred during the course of the plot and which, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight is obvious…although not so at the time.

 

Guilty, Not Guilty, moves along at a fast pace and I believe would make a good read and is an excellent audiobook.

 

I rated

Guilty, Not Guilty

as a

read.

 

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Guilty, Not Guilty

an average of 3.84 stars

from 1,306 ratings

and 203 reviews.

Guilty, Not Guilty

can be purchased on-line at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

Book-Review-In-Your-Name-2

 

In Your Name

(The Mechanic Trilogy #2)

by

Rob Ashman

 

Rob Ashman’s In Your Name follows hot on the heels of the first book of The Mechanic Trilogy.  Lucas, Harper and Bassano are still plagued by The Mechanic and her ritual serial killings and as far as the detectives know, The Mechanic has not killed for nearly eight months but this only makes Lucas more anxious in his search for clues to Mechanic’s identity.  

 

A Baton Rouge post marked letter arrives at the station addressed to Lucas.  Determined to solve the case Lucas asks his boss to mount an operation in Baton Rouge.  However, Lucas begins to doubt the veracity of the letter and with career and home life on the rocks, Lucas begins to lose control of reality.

In the meantime, in Las Vegas, Detective Rebecca Moran, an ambitious young detective, is tasked with solving a series of unusual murders.  Could Moran’s murder be related to the Mechanic’s murders?

Could Moran’s murder be related to the Mechanic’s murders?

 In Your Name can be read as a thrilling stand alone or as part of the gripping Mechanic Trilogy

I have rated

In Your Name

as a solid

four star read.

***

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers have awarded

In Your Name

an average of 4.36 stars

from 502 reviews

and 61 ratings.

Book Review-Red Earth

Red Earth

by

Tony Park

 

Red Earth by Tony Park was my seventh of his books set in Africa and it was as good, or better, than any of the other six.   As usual I had visited or knew some of the locations during a visit to South Africa’s, Kruger National Park, in 2013.

Basically this novel is one long chase scene and commences with a woman (Suzanne) who is victim of a car hijacking in Durban.   One of the hijackers steals her car along with her infant son.

Helicopter pilot, Nia, and wildlife researcher (Mike) are in pursuit and led on a merry chase by two teenage school children friends who do not know just who is chasing them and the baby they now have in their possession.

As Mike and Nia track the missing baby through wild game reserves of Zululand and Zimbabwe, Mike and Nia realise that war on terror has arrived in their world.

Not only are the bad guys trying to catch up with the baby and its teenage saviours, so also, are the CIA and no-one knows which members of the CIA are good and who is running with the bad guys.

Red Earth moves along at a good pace and lovers of Tony Park books will enjoy Red Earth.  Narrator, Mark Davis, also adds to this story.

I have rated Red Earth as a four star audiobook.

At the time of writing my review other Goodreads readers had awarded Red Earth an average of 4.09 stars from 473 ratings and 36 reviews

I think

Red Earth

 is a

read.

Goodreads readers have rated

Red Earth

an average of 4.09 stars

from 473 ratings

and 36 reviews

Red Earth

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

Book-Review-Those-That-Remain-1

Those That Remain

(The Mechanic Trilogy #1)

by

Rob Ashman

 

 

Rob Ashman was a new author to my reading list when I commenced Those that Remain.

Those that Remain feature three Florida detectives; Lucas, Bassano and Harper.

 Lucas is biding his time until retirement comes around, when a series of brutally sadistic murders is inflicted upon Florida’s summer population.  

The shock is more horrifying than one would normally think as three years earlier it was thought The Mechanic (the killer’s code name) was dead.  No family is safe from The Mechanic as whole families are ritualistically murdered.

What’s more the Mechanic seems to be always one step ahead the investigating team of detectives.  Does this indicate a mole in the police force?  Or is the killer just plain clever?

 

I have rated

Those That Remain

as a four star read.

 

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers have awarded

Those That Remain

an average of 4.22 stars

from 1,211 reviews

and 152 ratings.

 

Those That Remain

may be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon