Book-Review-The-Killing-Game

The Killing Game

by

J. S. Carol

Picture that you have been invited to lunch at the swankiest restaurant in town.  It is the restaurant where you not only have to wait months for a table but also the restaurant which is the most expensive in town.  The restaurant where only the A+ of Hollywood’s A-listers would visit.  Now you have the setting for this novel and the wealth to which these diners have access.

Surrounded by Hollywood royalty your meal has barely commenced when in walks an armed man claiming to be wearing a clearly visible suicide vest.  Your meal has just taken on a sour taste.

This is the scene/setting for the entire novel and although it may sound difficult to maintain a plausible story with only a few characters involved, possibly less named, J. S. Carol kept my interest for the entire story.

I often do not attentively listen to prologues.  Again this was the case with The Killing Game.  As driving and selecting a new book is not conducive to safety I listened to the prologue again as my book recommenced.  Be attentive when listening, or reading, the prologue.  Any more would spoil the plot.

Narrator, William Hope, does a good job of his character voices.  He had enough difference in each voice to make it clear which character was speaking.

The Killing Game was my first J. S. Carol book and, I think, worthy of a four star rating.

I think

The Killing Game

is definitely a

read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

The Killing Game

 an average of 4.08 stars

from 812 ratings

and 151 reviews

The Killing Game

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

Advertisements

Book Review-Taker-of-Lives

Taker of Lives

(Tess Winnett  #4)

by

Leslie Wolfe

 

Taker of Lives (Special Agent Tess Winnett, #4) is the fourth of the Tess Winnett series.

Is it a suicide, or the murder of a beautiful girl?  Tess goes against all the experienced heads and decrees it is murder.   And there commences a chase for a killer.  A killer who uses the internet, especially the dark web, to announce thee crimes committed and to distribute photos of the girls murdered to the general public.

The Taker of Lives uses social media as means as of selecting victims and as a means of distributing photos and live steaming of girls being murdered.  Beauty and social media popularity appear to be the main reasons the Taker is killing…..but why?

I thoroughly enjoyed Taker of Lives all the way to the end, which was a letdown after the build-up.  It was what I called a ‘Perry Mason’ ending.   An ending where the killer was caught and you realise there were clues but so scant that they were unrecognisable.  I think I suspected nearly every one of the main characters a various stages.

Even the killer chapters, first introduced in The Watson Girl, while giving a clear insight into the killers mind did not reveal the villain.  I only make this comment because due to previous research into the differences between Mystery and Thriller novels and according to writersdigest.com (today) a major difference between both genres is that in a thriller the villain, or killer, is usually known very early on in the story.  By this definition, many novels claiming ‘thriller’ status are only ‘mysteries’.

This was my third back to back Tess Winnett book and it was heading for five star rating until the end.  However, a definite 4 star read, maybe even 4.5.

Goodreads readers have rated

Taker of Lives

an average of 

4.19 stars

from 1,544 ratings and 96 reviews 

 I have rated 

Taker of Lives

a solidread.

Taker of Lives 

can be purchased online at 

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

Book-Review-The-Chain

The Chain

by

Adrian McKinty

 

 

Adrian McKinty’s The Chain was my introduction to this author thanks to a Goodreads friend.  And what a read it was!

Imagine arriving home one night to find your 12 year old child is not home as he/she should be.  To no avail friends and neighbour’s are called as panic begins to set in and is exacerbated by a ransom call which not only demands money, but also to conduct a kidnapping of your own.  Any form of law enforcement involvement will certainly be a death warrant for your child and perhaps family members.  However as in all good stories there is always someone willing to break The Chain, or die trying.

The Chain is a fast paced novel which captured my interest on page one and held it until the final word.  The Chain is a story of intrigue and mystery with several unforeseen twists.  The Chain is the kind of book which would make one frightened to let their child walk anywhere by themselves.

I think The Chain is worthy of a star rating.

Other Goodreads readers have awarded

The Chain

an average of 3.94 stars,

from 5,617 ratings

and 1,235 reviews.

 

 

 

The Chain 

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia and Amazon

 

Book Review-Win-Lose-or-Draw

Win, Lose or Draw

(Cliff Hardy  #42)

by

Peter Corris

 

Win, Lose or Draw is the 42^nd novel in Peter Corris’ easy listening Cliff Hardy series.

Set in Sydney, Coolangatta, Norfolk Island and Byron Bay, Cliff finds himself working for a client who not only trusts and thinks highly of Cliff, but also has a seemingly bottomless bank account.  This is something which Hardy finds novel and almost embarrassing to have not hundreds, but thousands of dollars for expenses.

A missing daughter, drugs and the sex trade are all interwoven to make Win, Lose or Draw a fast paced enjoyable story, with a wide range of enjoyable, and colourful, characters included as one would expected in scenarios such as this.

 

Mention must also be made of Dino Marnika, the third narrator of the Cliff Hardy series.  His gravelly voice is certainly different and suits the Cliff Hardy series.

I think

Win, Lose or Draw

is a

read.

Goodreads readers have rated

Win, Lose or Draw

an average of 3.84 stars

from 234 ratings and 21 reviews

Win, Lose or Draw

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia and Amazon

 

Book Review-Sliver-of-Truth

Sliver of Truth

by

Lisa Unger

Sliver of Truth was my third Lisa Unger book.  Had it been my first, it may have been my last.  I listened to Sliver of Truth and found it to be rather tedious, dull and boring.

In Sliver of Truth Ridley Jones discovers her father is not her father.  Instead her Uncle Max is her biological father.  And basically that is the crux of the book; Ridley trying to track down her father who, it appeared, had a questionable past.  She finds herself mixed up with several others who are also trying to locate Max for reasons which may or may not have been explained.

 

I often state the narrator can make or break an audio-book.  In this instance the narrator is Elizabeth Kaye.  Unfortunately Ms Kaye’s narration may have been the primary reason I did not enjoy Sliver of Truth.  Apart from the plot, I found her character voices uninteresting with little or no inflection.

 

Well before half way I was only listening to finish the book and the last hour or so Sliver of Truth had been relegated to back ground noise.  Should I take a short drive, or commence a chapter a few minutes prior to arriving home, I will often replay the previous few minutes next time I am in the car.  Sliver of Truth did not have me reaching for the replay button.

 

The Sliver of Truth Goodreads blurb quotes the Richmond Times-Dispatch as stating the book ‘…will force you to stay up past your bedtime, just as you do with the books of James Patterson and Michael Connelly…’.

Didn’t happen with this reader!!

 

Because I sort of completed the book I will rate Sliver of Truth as a two star audio-book.  It may have been a better ‘read’.

 

I have rated

Sliver of Truth

 

as aread.

Goodreads readers have rated

Sliver of Truth

an average of 3.68 stars

from 4,481 ratings

and 475 reviews

Sliver of Truth

 

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia and Amazon

 

Book Review-Divine-Justice

Divine Justice

(Camel Club #4)

by

David Baldacci

 

 

Divine Justice  by David Baldacci is another in the Oliver Stone/John Carr series.  Divine, a town in the United States of America in which Oliver Stone finds himself, after stepping in to end a three against one brawl.

Divine is a very small town but appears to be prospering because locals are employed at a nearby super maximum security prison and a coal mine.  However….are these industries the only source of income?

Shortly after arriving in town Stone hears of some unexpected deaths in the town.  And then physical violence and bodies seem to follow Oliver around.  This body count and violence is only from the Divine bad guys.  The government has its own bad guys who think nothing of adding to these statistics.

The only negative I find with series is that the hero is almost super human and no matter the odds barely gets a hand laid on him during a brawl.  It would slow the story if we had to wait for him to heal, wouldn’t it?

As with other David Baldacci novels this one was well paced at no time did I feel the story line was slowing.  However, while reading Divine Justice, I was also listening to another book which would make a glacier appear to be breaking the sound barrier.

I enjoy this genre and David Baldacci’s novels

and think

Divine Justice

 

is a

read.

Goodreads readers have rated

Divine Justice

an average of 4.19 stars

from 45,097 ratings

and 1,4882 reviews

Divine Justice

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia and Amazon

 

Book Review-Love-Lies-and-Murder

Love, Lies and  Murder

by

Leslie Wolfe

 

 

Love, Lies and Murder by Leslie Wolfe was my first of Ms Wolfe’s short stories and possibly my last, not because of the stories but because they were just that….short stories.

The ‘short’ short stories were too short and left me wanting more.  The longer stories were meatier and built my interest when they also ended.   Abruptly.

During the past twelve months I have read several books of short stories and even though I can read an entire story while having a coffee, I still prefer a novel.   Therefore, I have decided I am not a fan of short stories and only rate them as three star reads or less. Love, Lies and Murder definitely rates a three star read.

Concluding on a happier note, these short stories were ideal to reading while partaking of coffee or before lights out at night.  I found it easy to read two stories in bed before I fell asleep.

Leslie Wolfe fans will, like me, enjoy the stories.  It all boils down to whether you like short stories, or not.

 

At the time of writing,

Goodreads readers have rated

Love, Lies and Murder

an average of 

4.14 stars

from 49 ratings and 16 reviews 

 I have rated 

Love, Lies and Murder

a solidread.

Love, Lies and Murder 

can be purchased online at 

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon