February 2018 reviews

1. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman (A library eBook from Overdrive)

This book is complex in its ability to create a new type of alternate world. So, it is a type of time travel but also there is more story than reliability on technology. It is really about people. Some of them are human. Some of them would be considered alien by human standards. It is a fantasy novel first listed in 2015.

We read these kinds of quotes within different parts of the story. “The library runs on conspiracy theory.” Or “You remember the stages of infestation? Affective, intuitive, assumptive, and conglomerative?” and “The Chaotic forces must therefore be discrete and identifiable.” Although these quotes appear within different parts of the story they deal with the plot in many different types of ways.

There are more books in this series. The Invisible Library is the first book in the series and sets the scene for other books to follow.

Although the characters are many, the reader will find some of them in following stories. Of course, there is a library, which I’m not sure, but it seemed to me, to have its own personality. Then, there is a dragon, a famous detective, a nice police chief, a silver elf, more than one librarian, and lots of other characters; some of whom meet death before you get to know them very well.

If you like fantasy I recommend the story as one that will keep you riveted. My kindle says it takes about 6 hours and 25 minutes to read the book. Happy Reading. (265 words counted on The Journal 7)

2. The buried Book by D.M. Pulley (An eBook from Amazon Prime)

As far as I am concerned this is a don’t put it down until its finished story. Maybe it is because it is a story placed part of the time on a farm in Michigan. “We’re goin’ up to the farm.” Another part of the story takes place in Detroit which is only a bus ride away from the farm. It gives the reader a look at the contrast between city and country living. Plus, there is a fictional Indian reservations and some cultural insights about the Indians who live there.

A young boy struggles with a grownup world without understanding what is going on, in the action around him. Because, he is too young to know how to ask the right questions' he finds answers to lively problems in his own special way. His way of finding answers is not always compatible with the way adults view the world.

Each chapter starts with the kind of questions an interrogator would ask in a criminal case. “What did you do for money? For food?” I read each chapter hoping it would lead me to the answers of the questions being asked.

The author’s notes were also very interesting. They start this way, “The Buried Book is a work of historical fiction.” The author used true events to create a fictional story that shows a very accurate view of what growing up in a rural community can be like. It was an interesting story from beginning to end with lots of action. Happy Reading. (267 word counted on The Journal 7)

3. Dead Stop by Barbara Nickless (A Sydney Rose Parnell, Series Book 2) (An Amazon Kindle Book)

One of the reasons this series is relevant is because of the life resonating quotes the author writes into the mouth of her heroine. Sydney says things like, “Every person’s life is a struggle against a world filled with resistance,” and “excuses--even prettied up as reasons--are just a way to avoid doing what needs doing,” and “those who are the least guilty are the ones who feel most at fault.”

We have all heard a lot in the last few years about PTSD. In this book the author takes on a new type of syndrome called Moral Injury. This is a series about a marine corporal who has returned to civilian life. The series takes on the issues of military obligation versus civilian life in all it’s controversial insights. While showing us this wisdom Nickless weaves a, don’t put it down, murder story.

The story is a mixture of what happens when the military people take up life out of uniform and what has been happening all along that does not concern the military. Two railroad tycoons in competition with each other over building railroads take a turn into the dark side. They involve their families and bystanders in unfortunate life situations as time follows them along an unsatisfactory sequence of events.

Within the story Sydney moves forward with a new human relationship. Don’t forget her involvement with a trained dog. There is a lot of story here about her canine partner. A dog who’s senses are able to give Sydney clues to danger and track lost children. I will definitely be reading the next book in this series when I find it. Nickless is on my favorite writers list now. (300 words, word count by The Journal 7)

4. Roadside Crosses By Jeffrey Deaver ( a library eBook from Overdrive)

From the author’s note we read this, “One theme of this novel is the blurring of the line between the “synthetic world”--the online life --and the real world.”

The organization most represented here is the CBI. As the title suggests you find situations involving roadside crosses in the story. Roadside Crosses are “memorials to traffic accident victims.” The story begins with a roadside cross that is found by a California Highway Patrol trooper.

Another interesting comment in the Author’s Note is a reference to a website address that you can actually type in and go to on a computer. Later in the story you will read about MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-player games.) The story winds back and forth between online situations and real life situations. It emphasizes the difference between what happens online and what the reality of real life situations may involve.

A young teenager is tried and convicted online while his real life takes some ominous turns. A CBI detective, Kathryn Dance, spends her time unraveling truth from fiction concerning a series of attempted crimes. Murder becomes a real part of the story. Then in a second crime a nurse from a hospital is brought up on charges for a second main murder case. There are so many crimes and actions happening that Dance barely has time to deal with her real home life.

This story has lots of action and shows the life of a detective squad interacting with other nearby police organizations to unravel and solve multiple crimes. It opens up the personal lives of the characters as well. The action will keep the reader involved from beginning to end. (265 words counted by The Journal 7).

5. Silent Victim by Caroline Mitchell (an eBook from Amazon)

“Caroline Mitchell is a former police detective.” Her knowledge of victims and police procedure is used with advantage as she spins out thrillers. “A gentleman is simply a patient wolf” By Lana turner is the quote found, before the prologue, that starts the story.

The entire story is based on the way victims can find them selves unwittingly involved with some one who literally finds ways to make quilt where innocence should be found. Unfortunately, sociopaths are in every walk of life. As the story unfolds the reader will find that they are as difficult to spot as innocence is to prove.

Mitchell’s writing style leads the reader through the thought processes of each character in the story. She does this with skill and she intends for readers to understand victims when the story finally comes to an end. In the author’s note Mitchell says, “I would urge anyone in such circumstances to find help,.....”

This particular story follows a female victim who becomes involved with a teacher in her youth. The problems he creates for her continue to make her obsessive throughout her life. The victimization effects her relationships in school, her home life, her eventual marriage, and her child’s safety. Eventually, the truth surfaces in actions that she takes to solve the lifelong issues that plague her.

It is unfortunate that victims usually find it difficult to know who they can tell or who will believe their story. Some of this story explains how a web of lies can keep victims silent when they should be able to find safety and help. I recommend this story for its insight, action, and reality based wording. (word count 285 on The Journal 7)