Book # 1, in the Lewis Trilogy
This is an intricately plotted story featuring Detective sergeant Finlay (Fin) Macleod of the Edinburgh police force. Fin has been dispatched to his home village of Crobost on the Isle of Lewis to investigate a gruesome murder that resembles another case he worked on in Edinburgh.
The story has a split framework told in alternating chapters. Narrated in a first person in a melancholy tone are chapters where Fin’s childhood memories come to surface by his homecoming then we switch to the thirst person narration in a tougher tone when the present- day police procedural investigating the grisly killing of the village bully kicks-in and we go back and forth. It takes a lot of time to get use to this but it is well worth staying put.
There is so much going on with the tradition murder investigation which takes many twists and turns while Fin’s memories propels him in the past. After I got used to this style the recollections became quite interesting, it would be unfair to give away too many secrets. And as the story unfolds and all the threads are neatly tied by the end… it emerges that Fin and his childhood story are intimately linked with the murder……
With pitch-perfect characterization, this densely plotted story heavy on atmosphere and richly detailed local colour is addictive. Its strong vocabulary and traditional Gaelic names and terms (a glossary is provided) transports us to the island, a place where life is rugged and where people are fascinating. Some may shy away from the annual trip to kill guga sea birds but this hefty dose of Lewis custom is the perfect climax to wrap this unique story. The ending is huge and heart-pounding.
Book # 7, in the Scot Harvath series
Although this thriller is part of a series and I prefer reading the books in sequence I had no trouble picking this one at this stage. I was fast taken in by this exiting story and enjoyed Scot Harvath attempts to uncover a revelation that could damage the standing of radical Islam. This book was on the New York bestseller while being banned in Saudi Arabia when it came out (no wonder).
Being my first attempt reading this author was a good experience although having said this, “The Last Patriot” is very formulaic. . I had to set aside that the plot was pure fantasy and not be offended by its topic. Throughout the book we have long anti-Islamic diatribes that may be too much and again we have Homeland Security operatives working under the radar for the president, nothing new there. Many authors have hashed this over and over, it is time to let go.
“The Last Patriot” mixes a certain amount of truth with creative and artistic fiction. The plot is wrapped around the idea that the prophet Mohammed shared a final revelation with some of his closest friends, who then murdered him to keep him quiet and what he said a secret. It all started when the president read the White House diary of Thomas Jefferson sending Harvath on a journey looking for clues to the Jefferson discovery.
This thriller is a buffet of everything we want in a good thriller: suspense, action, well-written, fun, a high-adrenaline escapist and a cinematic page-turner hard to put down. This is pure entertainment.
Book #0.5, in Until the Down series
I am not a huge fan of novellas but I will make exception here. It was just enough of a teaser to see the author style and enjoy her introduction to the series and her characters. By omitting the fluff that no one really cares about, the author has managed to propel an excellent storyline within 100 pages or so.
This page- turner for some but maybe not for others brings us to the end of the 19th century in Hudson River Valley and is a good start to the Until Dawn series. Although I wish “Toward the Sunrise” would have been a novel instead. The story offers an intriguing peek in the life of residents of the abandoned Vandermark historic estate. Julia Broeder is the main character she dreams becoming a medical missionary and with the help of Aston Carlyle she will achieve her dream ……and more. The plot is vivid, complex and is well paced. Considering the shortness of this novel the characterisation is quite enjoyable although missing substance. (Unfortunately, there is no time for development in a novella).
This is a sweet historical romance novella I enjoyed quite a bit. Maybe I was just in the right mood for this type of book……
