Shady Lady by Ann Aguirre My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have to give a fairly high rating to a book that involves a woman who largely saves herself from multiple assassins (natural and supernatural) sent by the head of a drug cartel. There are sexy men in her life (three, in fact), but she’s […]
Book Review: Blood Lite III: Aftertaste edited by Kevin J. Anderson
Blood Lite III: Aftertaste by Kevin J. Anderson My rating: 2 of 5 stars This anthology is supposed to be humorous horror. I have a message for Kevin J. Anderson: grossness is not nearly enough for humor. I hope volume two was funnier (I haven’t read it yet), but if it was as bad as this […]
Book Review: Down These Strange Streets edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner R. Dozois
Down These Strange Streets by George R.R. Martin My rating: 4 of 5 stars This anthology gathers stories from authors who normally write in various genres. The commonality is that each story is a mystery, and there’s a fantastic twist to each. Martin’s introduction calls such stories the “bastard stepchild” of mystery and horror. Charlaine Harris’ […]
Book Review: Entangled edited by Edie Ramer
Entangled by Edie Ramer My rating: 3 of 5 stars I picked this anthology up because all proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which is a wonderful cause. Many of the authors’ lives have been touched by cancer in one way or another, some first-hand. The volume is Halloween-themed, as well. I don’t believe I’ve […]
Book Review: Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris My rating: 3 of 5 stars For fluff, it’s got some really dark scenes. It doesn’t have enough of a plot to be anything more than fluff, though. It absolutely does NOT stand alone, so don’t consider reading this book unless you’ve read all that went before it — you’ll be […]
Book Review: Tricked by Kevin Hearne
Tricked by Kevin Hearne My rating: 5 of 5 stars That was so good. Just so very good. Like the last three — well plotted, with good character development from a fascinating cast of characters. This time most of the mythology is Native American (specifically Navajo) instead of Norse or Celtic, but there’s a little spice […]
Book Review: Hammered by Kevin Hearne
Hammered by Kevin Hearne My rating: 5 of 5 stars Wow. This book has a non-stop pace, for reasons that will be obvious to the reader but cannot be explained to others without spoilers. I’ll just say “clear your calendar” because you’ll not find ANY good stopping places. One of the things that truly impresses me […]
Book Review: Places to Be, People to Kill edited by Brittiany A. Koren & Martin H. Greenberg
Places To Be, People To Kill by Brittiany A. Koren My rating: 3 of 5 stars I enjoyed this anthology more than one might expect from a collection of stories about killers, but then I’ve read a couple of volumes edited by Brittiany A. Koren and Martin H. Greenberg now, and I trust the pair. (Greenberg has […]
Book Review: Hounded by Kevin Hearne
Hounded by Kevin Hearne My rating: 4 of 5 stars I just can’t say enough good things about this book. It’s well-plotted. There’s an excellent cast of characters, and they develop in interesting ways. The world-building is wonderfully rich. I have the same incredible, bubbly feeling that I did when reading the very first Dresden Files novel […]
Review: Fifty Shades of Grey
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James My rating: 2 of 5 stars I didn’t intend to read this book, as I’d largely heard snark about it. A dear friend recommended it, though, so I finally gave it a read. The writing definitely needs polish and a good editor—I couldn’t possibly give it more than 3 stars […]