A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

I'm catching up on my reading from 2012: I've read the latest releases from Karin Slaughter, Tana French, Tess Gerritsen and now S.J. Bolton.  I've done some sleuthing on the 2013 releases of these authors and the only one I found information  on (via Amazon's UK site) was Bolton's follow up to Dead Scared , called Like This, Forever , or at least that's what they're calling it in the U.K.  That comes out in April in the U.K.  I haven't checked into the U.S. release date.  I still have to read the 2012 releases from John Connolly (Charlie Parker series) and M.J. McGrath and John Sandford (Virgil Flowers series).  I also want to track down the latest from Anna McPartlin--what is up with her anyway?  She released something in the U.K. last year or the year before, but I haven't heard anything about any new releases from her. Dead Scared is the latest from Bolton--and it is a scary and terrifying ride.  I do have one quibble I wish to get off my...

Last to Die is the latest in Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli & Isles series.  My initial reaction to the murders in this latest outing is that "it's a trap!"  And now that I think about it, that first reaction turned out to be correct in the end. Three young kids, Will, Claire, and Teddy, have each survived the respective massacres of their families; the massacres occurring within the same week.  Two years later each survives the massacre of their respective foster families.  Will and Claire have come to Evensong Academy where child survivors of violence find safety, kindred spirits and an education that teaches them how to deal with a dangerous world and helps them to heal from their traumas. In Boston Teddy survives the massacre of his foster family, and Det. Jane Rizzoli, with Dr. Isles' help, puts the pieces together and realizes that Teddy may still be in danger.  Jane races to Teddy's emergency foster family placement just in time to prevent the mas...

I did a short internet search for an inkling on who her next novel will focus on--none of the narrators from the previous novels made any cameos in this one.  And man, if the next one features that slimy greaseball Quigley I'm jumping ship on this series.  On the surface the Dublin Murder Squad series (as Amazon has started calling it) is a crime mystery series; each book features a different narrator whose life usually goes to hell in a hand basket over the course of one twisty, complicated investigation.  The end of the novel isn't your typical, everything-tied-up-in-a-bow, 'happy' ending either. In this latest installment, Broken Harbor , Detective Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy, who had a brief appearance in the previous novel, is the narrator.   Broken Harbor is so named for the seaside village Kennedy's family used to vacation in until one summer when tragedy found them there and changed their lives forever. Kennedy is called to the new development, ...

I'm behind on my reading, okay?  I only just finished the most recent installment in Slaughter's Will Trent series, which was released last summer.  Normally I'm all over a new release by one of the authors that I follow.  Only I haven't been reading much of anything in the past year as evidenced by the sparsity of reviews posted here on the blog.  I'm cautiously optimistic that the drought is over.  But one can never tell sometimes when it comes to these things. On to Criminal , the most recent and most terrifying installment of the Will Trent series.  If there is one complaint I have about Criminal it's that there's not enough Will.  And his estranged wife, Angie, who gives all Angies a bad name and taints the name itself with her malicious and toxic manipulation, makes an appearance.  (Okay, that makes two complaints--I can deal with the former, but not so much with the latter; I really wish Angie would be dealt with once and for...

When I was younger I read a lot about royalty, particularly queens, such as the queens of England.  The truth is I could care less what the men were doing--probably because what they were doing was always so well documented.  I would have rather read about the women and what they were doing, but women's history isn't as well documented and maybe that is what spurs my fascination--there's still an element of mystery.  (And we all know I like to read a good mystery.)  I don't read as much about them anymore, but recently I read a couple books about the kings and queens of England. The National Portrait Gallery's history includes full color photos of portraits of some of the kings and queens.  It details short biographies of the kings and queens of England that includes their personal lives and their reigns.  It begins with an introduction detailing the ancient tribes' kings dating from BC through the ninth century in England.  The biographies start w...