Review: A Shot to the Heart

A Shot to the Heart by James L. Thane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On The Thane Train Again

Have up on this author a couple books back, but this one is a winner! You know from the outset how the murder was committed and by whom, even why. What you don't know for a couple of pages is that the daughter of the victim ,Laura,a cardiologist, is not going to accept a sudden stroke, an accident, as the cause of her father's death. Nor do you realize just how meticulously the widow, Cyndi has planned it and its cover up. What follows is a delicious chess game between these two women,as various pieces fly off the board and the game culminates in a perfect checkmate,with the piece literally falling face up blankly staring the winner in the eye! One of the best books I've read this year!!!

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Review: The Woman in Cabin 10

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The only reason I finished this book is because the reviews were so good that I thought I needed to get into it further. Then, I'd gotten into it so far it seemed I should at least see who was playing tricks on this woman, who I found weak, whiney and totally unappealing. The writing is sophmoric, boring and repetitive but finailly I reached the last third of the book--page 236 to be exact and the story became at least somewhat interesting and, maybe, a bit unsettling but not terrorizing. The last two pages could be the last two of any mystery when there is no body to identify so one isn't sure the person is truly dead. Not in the slightest original. Should I try another ot this author's books to see if there is any improvement in story development and character building or move on to one of my favorite authors whom I know to be more adept and satisfying? For the moment, it will be the latter.

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Review: The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life

The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Bittersweet to read Trebek's memories and philosophy written when he knew his life was coming to an end. Some of the " chapters " were a paragraph long, others extended to a page and a half. Interestingly, there were some very profound thoughts and some themes that provided food for thought for the reader. What is courage? Does divorce always have to mean anger and recriminations? Is it enough to be really talented and good at what you do to succeed? He answers the question he found himself confronted with after he revealed his diagnosis--how did he want to be remembered? I'll leave it to other readers to hear it directly from him in his own words. As for me, his wish has been fulfilled.

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Review: Strangers in Death

Strangers in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hard to believe I've read 26 of these books and there are at least that many more to go. The story never disappoints--set in 2060 it is fun to imagine how the city will be long after I'm gone. Some of the things Robb sets up appeal but I'm glad I won't be around when real food and COFFEE are at a premium. The traffic and lack of parking spaces seem pretty much the same as it is now. Although the setting is drastically different the the crimes are, unfortunately, the same. Vicious murders, often committed not by strangers but by relatives or acquaintances with greed, jealousy, money etc still the motives. In this case, the solution to the crime has been used in other fictional genres, yet even though one example is a classic, the thought never crossed my mind. Didn't occur to Eve and her team either. Still, once the pieces came together, the whole thing just made perfect sense. Added to the complexity and interest of the crime at the heart of the story is the ongoing development of the characters and their relationships. This makes the series all the more addictive.

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Review: The Lightning Rod

The Lightning Rod by Brad Meltzer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The second in Meltzer's Zig and Nola series and I'm still not sure I like Nola, but will admit, she's pretty complex and seems to be getting a little less emotionally guarded. Zig is a mortician and has, for most of his career, worked at Dover Air Force base where most fallen military bodies are brought to be prepared for burial. He's considered an artist since he has performed miracles it would seem to make many of these wounded and damaged bodies whole enough to be viewed by families and friends with a minimum of despair at the trauma the fallen has suffered.
Nola--Nola is in the Army--she's an artist, too. Her job is to paint, sketch, draw military events and personnel at some of the most chaotic situations. She has suffered trauma too--primarily emotional and most in her childhood. She is self-contained, a loner with little empathy or social warmth or grace. As a young girl she save Zig's daughter from a disfiguring if not life threatening accident at Girl Scout camp. His daughter died at 12. He has a soft spot for Nola and since she always seems to get into dangerous situations, he finds himself either bailing her out or working with her.
In this story, a former colleague of Nola's has been murdered--she was in his crew during a operation called Grandma's Pantry and found him to be a good leader and mentor. She wants to know why he's dead. Zig has been appointed the one to prepare the man's body. There is a lot of mystery about why, least of which is that the guy is not full time active--he's National Guard --and is getting pretty elaborate treatment. When Nola shows up at the funeral, Zig knows there is a mystery to be solved and Nola is somehow involved. And off they go, into another convoluted case which brings some revealing facts about Nola--maybe she's not so bad--

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Review: How the Light Gets In

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Using the birth of the Dionne Quintuplets as inspiration Penny weaves a tale around the death of the last Ouellet quint. Marie-Constance had been a patient of Myrna's in Montreal. Her childhood had been traumatic and when her therapy sessions ended, she and Myrna became friends. After a short visit to Three Pines she'd returned to Montreal, intending to return for the Christmas holidays. When she failed to appear Myrna appealed to Gamache to investigate her disappearance. Although involved in the investigation, Gamache is simultaneously attempting to discover what his nemesis, Francoeur, is planning for the Surete, for Gamache whose department he has gutted, and for Jean-Guy Beauvoir whom he has all but destroyed. This is perhaps the most tension filled of the series so far as it builds to a plot that, if successful, will impact not just Montreal, not just Quebec but all of Canadian stability.

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Review: The Elias Network

The Elias Network by Simon Gervais
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Caspian and Liesl seem to be falling in love. He's pretty sure he wants to spend the rest of his life with her, but he has some pretty deep secrets about his work. He isn't just the translator at the UN he's told her he is. Liesl, on the other hand, finds Caspian physically and sexually appealing but his bland personality has her wondering if she should break it off. She is an accountant--or at least that is what she said she is. Still, he is off in Switzerland skiing so perhaps she'll run it by her real boss, who had wanted her to maintain their relationship. She needn't decide before his return. What she doesn't know is that Caspian is working black ops for a secret Federal organization and in Switzerland he's on a pretty dangerous assignment. The outcome of which causes Liesl's boss to encourage the affair until he can figure out if Caspian is the notorious Elias!

The ways of spycraft are convoluted. Just try to keep up, especially since some SDRs (Surveillance Detection Routes ) can be over 2 hours long!

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