"Pinhole", by Glenn Cooper

This first book in the trilogy is part thriller and part fantasy-adventure and is a saga that transport the reader to a world they never experienced.

The story:

John Camp is head of security at the largest super-collider tunnel around London. High in his priorities is his relationship with Emily Loughty, the research director. When the collider inexplicably continues powering much higher…in a blink of an eye Emily disappears and a rough-looking man appears in her place…..thus the mystery starts….with John embarking on a mission and goes looking for his hot Scottish babe…..down in hell.

My thoughts:

This story is definitely a thought provoking read. The author does a great job pulling pieces of history to make this thriller captivating. Crossing John’s path, the author throws a bunch a famous people in his storyline as he travels from kingdom to kingdom in search of his Emily.

The author excels in building well-fleshed out characters and putting them in situations where tension is at its max. Particularly interesting where the characters who stuck the longest with the main hero and of course, the story leaves a lot of dead bodies along the way. Every page brings a different set of evil people but when you finally think good is around the corner…all bets are off.

It surely quite entertaining even if there were a lot of unsolved issues and ended in a cliffhanger…. excellent way to start the ball rolling I must say. Very clever to pique our interest in book#2. I surely did the trick with me.

I am not a hard science fiction junkie nor a fantasy fanatic one although no doubts I enjoyed this one …quite mesmerizing by a long shot…

Well-said and well-done

My thanks to Book Whisperer and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

"Final Orbit", by Chris Hadfield

Apollo Murders, #3

This science-fiction Cold War-era story takes us back to 1975 during the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission but in his spin, Mr. Hadfield didn’t want things to go smoothly. A depressurization accident takes half the crew of the mission and kicks of a plot to the next level bringing China, a new player to join the space race…nothing like a geopolitics drama to spice a good story.

Although this is the third book in the series it works well as a stand-alone. Mr. Hadfield blends with ease real historical personages and events and gives them life with stormy action and along the way some historical backgrounds infused.

I love how this pulse-pounding adventure develops into a battle in space with critical errors killing two astronauts, one cosmonaut and destroying the Russian ship and forcing the remaining crew to Skylab an old abandoned station orbiting nearby…. but once there, company awaited them…. yes, confrontation involving guns and machete all kinds of brouhaha to keep us pinned on the action and invested till the remaining crew heads back to the joy of mission control and everyone on earth.

The narrative is inevitably peppered with an abundance of technical jargon, although the momentum is never lost by this, it keeps a steady pace and move along quite well. But why stay in space, few sub-plots on hearth bring more drama to the plate.

From start to finish this is a well-said and well-done story I enjoyed passing time with.

I received this book from Mulholland Books via Netgalley for my thoughts: this is the way I see it.

"The Knight is a Son of a Bitch", by Aviv Geva

This story is definitely unique, cheeky and very bold. Told in blunt and crude language Mr. Geva gives us a glimpse into a man’s mind revealing his every dirty secrets. For some reason I cannot explain why but I was sucked into it and stayed put to the last page. The story made me laugh, cry, angry all at the same time. Maybe the philosophical elements of it made me think about my emotions and feelings…. Definitely unfiltered….

"Have you ever asked yourselves if you believe in love at first sight? What regular and mundane matters crosses the mind of any normal man in his twenties when he sees a sexy woman…. Imagine it but don’t say it…Maybe is it lust, maybe infatuation or the poor man is simply lovestruck…. Or something else😊

“The Knight is a Son of a Bitch” is a trip on the wild side, highly sexual and very explicit. It is said against a backdrop of Jewish spirituality and Israeli culture and takes place mainly on the beautiful and sandy beach of Isla Mujeres, Mexico.

Dream on boys…..

Totally original and simply out of my comfort zone but I honestly can say not a bad read as a conclusion.

This book was given through the first reviewer program for my thoughts. This is the way I see it.

"The Blockchain Syndicate", by Robbie Bach

This gripping techno/political drama is a follow-up to “The Wilkes Insurrection” featuring Tamika Smith and Jerry Jessup.

The story in a few words:

Senator Tamika Smith received a threatening email exposing her, then, when her boyfriend, Johnny Humbold is kidnapped and his daughter wounded in a school shooting, Tamika couldn’t stay idle. Wondering who wants to take her down and the country she loves she set to navigate the political landscape riddled with betrayal, misinformation, recue Johnny and tracking down those responsible behind all this mayhem before Armageddon strikes and destroys her country…..

My thoughts:

In this story the “Syndicate” is an organisation of American patriots with a vision to disrupt America rather than rally it.

The plot is a compelling mix of real-world action and online activities. The narrative does not disappoint and takes us from trouble to trouble from the school shooting, to the firing nest in an arboretum, into crypto land and the dark web not a dull moment. I stayed engaged from start to finish even when I crossed some political chapters, not deterred with all the slogans and lectures it raised; I still stayed with it too eager to see where all of this would lead. The story goes international to Netherland and Russia hunting for a professional assassin on the loose named Andropov…. Shifting perspectives across continent, the momentum is constantly maintained to keep us on our toes.

What a riveting thriller even if I had guessed the outcome long before it happened, I still think this is an outstanding read.

The author’s inside knowledge of the tech world and in civic policies gives us a chilling thriller with themes right out of current headlines. Afterall Mr. Bach is a former Chief Officer at Microsoft.

Well-said and well-done

Thank you Fauzia Burke from FSBassociates for giving me the opportunity to enjoy this story.

"The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer", by Ragnar Jonasson

An Icelandic thriller

Although this is my first experience with this author, I understand this book is the second featuring Reykjavik Detective Helgi Reykdal.

The story in a few words:

One winter evening bestselling crime author, Elín S. Jónsdóttir goes missing it is up to Helgi to crack the case. He realises that Elin’s life may not have been so cut and dry. As the hours passes Helgi uncovers that Elin was living a very unexpected life…

My thoughts in a few words:

It will take time to find your footing with this book….be patient it is all worth it.

The narrative begins with interviews between a reporter and Elin and shifts to the present-day (2012) investigation then harks back to the 70’s with Hulda as a young officer investigating her own crimes. We cross multiple time lines as this story unravels at a lightning speed but I assure you even if you are not a fan of the back and forth you will easily get sucked into the suspense. This story is a real puzzle, revealing bits and pieces till most fit together but one. A loose end that left me disappointed, I didn’t care for the ending, a cliff-hanger I would think …maybe a sign of book #3 to come.

I simply love how this story is dialogue driven with exchanges between characters vividly told. In whole, a good story well-said and well-done.

My thanks to St-Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC

"Dead at Midnight", by John W. Mefford

Alex & Ozzie, Dark Horizon, book #3

Mr. Mefford has never been in better shape when he thought about this one. Sending Alex on the case of a missing woman while Ozzie is pulled into a teen gone missing. The two families are desperate only adding more challenge as our charismatic duo and soon they see themselves on the tail a serial killer.

Mr. Mefford where do you get all that imagination to give us a fresh story book after book. Kudo to you. As always, brilliantly writing to pull you into the mystery and captive till the very end, never a dull moment from start to finish.

The story revolves around addiction especially involving ketamine and ketamine parties. The effects on the person and family are devastating and are well describe. Through the excellent narrative the story is not shy to have Alex and Ozzie facing personal ups and downs in their lives while staying focused on finding the two women before they fall prey to the serial killer that had mutilate others in the past.

Great read

Thank you, Mr. Mefford, and keep the good work.

"The Resurrection Maker", by Glenn Cooper

The story and my thoughts:

Echoes from the past guides Arthur Malory on a dangerous quest for the Holy Grail. Seems that Mr. Cooper has once again woven an impossible tale or maybe for some one that is almost believable.

Arthur Mallory works at a scientific science research center and spends his spare time combing the countryside with his metal detector and is interested in finding the Holy Grail. Then enters a mysterious woman warning him of danger….an adventurous traipse starts through Britain, Europe and the Middle East ….

Told through deferent time periods:

England, 15th century with Sir Thomas Malory and his lifelong search for the Holy Grail…the famous tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table….and it goes on and on and on.

England, the present day with scientist and amateur archaeologist Arthur Malory following a centuries-old trail of clues left by his ancestor.

This thriller is a mix of Arthurian legend, medieval secrets and cutting-edge science I surely felt very similar to Dan brown’s religious thrillers I enjoyed very much. It gives us a story with all the great elements of religious, historical one can expect from Mr. Cooper but was this plot as engaging? What happened? I Expected a story with action with good character development, it met my expectation for the first 80 pages or so then the story turned, it became a little disjointed, familiar and very predictable. I totally lost interest and of course reading became tedious……too much information dumps, very boring result….

Totally disappointed with this one.

My thanks to Book Whisperer for the copy I received via Negalley for my thoughts: this is the way I see it