Review: SHAKESPEARE'S CHAMPION

Shakespeare's Champion by Charlaine Harris
Book 2 of the Lily Bard mysteries
Narrated by Julia Gibson
Genre: murder mystery
Format: paperback, audiobook

About Shakespeare's Champion:

Lily Bard has started over in the quiet town of Shakespeare, Arkansas, as a cleaning lady. One who works out her anger and the pain of her past in a martial arts class.

For Lily, the gym is a place to get away from her troubles, not find more of them. But when she stumbles on the corpse of a local bodybuilder, his neck broken with a barbell, the town's underlying racial tensions begin to boil over. The white victim was connected was connected to unsolved murders of black residents in Shakespeare, and a dogged policeman is determined to stop the killing. Lily may have to decide whether to stay and fight for justice, or run away once more time.

Source: Info in the About Shakespeare's Champion was taken from the back copy of the paperback edition with ISBN 9780575105270 on 05/05/2012.

My Thoughts:

I bought the MP3 audiobook and borrowed the paperback from the library. I guess I just gotten used to having a paperback to read together with my audiobooks... I know, I know, I'm awkward kind of reader... or picky... depends on your point of view...

After reading/listening to this book, Book 2 of the Lily Bard mysteries, one distinct feature comes to mind... I can say that the main difference between this series and that of Charlaine Harris's more popular series, the Sookie Stackhouse, is that the main protagonist here, Lily Bard, is not too stupid to live (TSTL)! However, this series still carries with it the distinct addictive quality of Ms. Harris's wonderful story telling quality which shines through loud and clear in this book!

I am not very fond of Julia Gibson's reading style though. Her voice has a droning monotone quality to it which borders to boring and dull. Don't get me wrong, it isn't that bad, it's just that I've heard better.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 5
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 3
Pace (paperback) = 4
Pace (audiobook) = N/A
Narrator = 3

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Thank you to the RCT Library for letting me borrow this book!!

FTC Disclosure:
This paperback was borrowed from the library. The audiobook version was purchased with private funds. No money received for this review.

Review: TWO FOR THE DOUGH

Two For The Dough by Janet Evanovich
Book 2 of the Stephanie Plum series
Narrated by CJ Critt
Format: audiobook
Genre: crime fiction chicklit

About Two For The Dough:

Stephanie Plum, the sassiest, spunkiest female bounty hunter in America (or at least New Jersey) is back to take on her second case. She's armed with attitude and outrageous fashion sense -- not to mention stun guns, defense sprays, killer flashlights, and her trusty .38 -- and all the determination a neophyte bounty hunter can muster.

In Two for the Dough, she's after a ruthless bail jumper who has an affection for mailing Stephanie deadly notes and pickled body parts, and stealing 24 super-cheap caskets loaded with contraband. When the case overwhelms Stephanie and fast-talking cop Joe Morelli, she calls in a real pro: her grandma Mazur, a grey-haired, spandex-wearing dynamo packing heat.

Source: Info in the About Two For The Dough was taken from at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/147071.Two_for_the_Dough on 16/04/2012.

Review:

Right off the bat, the audiobook cover art is downright ugly! The paperback cover art is plain jane but at least it is not jarringly ugly! And I find that as I listen to this audiobook, the story telling quality is not as engrossing as I seem to remember it was from the previous book... but this author sure knows how to build a story! Story building is where her skills lies strongest, I think. The book started off slow but picked up in a steady pace until it went really well towards the end. It went faster. It went funnier. And the best thing I like the most about this book is that it made me laugh. I am beginning to see why a lot of people likes this series. If you are looking for an audiobook to lighten up your day, this book would be a good choice.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 1
Pace = N/A (8 discs)
Plot = 3.5
Narrator = 4

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries


Thank you to RCT Library for letting me borrow this audiobook!!

FTC Disclosure:
This audiobook was borrowed from the library. No money received for this review.

WW28: DELUSION IN DEATH

WW28
A chance to showcase your favourite!

• First you grab our Wicked Wednesday pic.
• Then you grab a book. Turn to page 28. Take the first sentence. And then you post it in your site with a link back to WW28.
• Come back to Cherry Mischievous - WW28 and give us the url of your post (in a comment at a WW28 post) so that other WW28 readers can find your WW28 offering.

WW28 book offering: Delusion In Death by JD Robb

What would cause people to hallucinate that way, and so intensely for so short a time?

And that is the crux of the problem...


About Delusion In Death:

It was just another after-work happy-hour bar downtown, where business professionals unwound with a few drinks, complained about the boss, maybe hooked up with someone for the night. Until something went terribly wrong. At first it was just a friction in the air. The noise intensified. The crowd seemed oppressive. Some sharp words were exchanged, some pushing and shoving.

Then the madness descended. And after 12 minutes of chaos and violence, 80 people lay dead.

Eve Dallas is trying to sort out the inexplicable events. Surviving witnesses talk about seeing things - monsters and swarms of bees. They describe sudden, overwhelming feelings of fear and rage and paranoia. When forensics makes its report, the mass delusions make more sense: it appears the bar patrons were exposed to a cocktail of chemicals and illegal drugs that could drive people into temporary insanity - if not kill them outright.

But that doesn't explain who would unleash such horror - or why. Eve's husband, Roarke, happens to own the bar, yet he's convinced the attack wasn't directed at him. It's bigger than that. And if Eve can't figure it out fast, it could happen again, anytime, anywhere. Because it's airborne....

©2012 Nora Roberts (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Source: Info in the About Delusion In Death was taken from http://www.audible.co.uk/pd?asin=B0091I3K2M on 26/09/2012.

Review: EVERY DEAD THING

Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
Read by Jeff Harding
Book 1 of Charlie Parker series
Genre: crime fiction
Format: unabridged audiobook

About Every Dead Thing:

Now available in trade paperback, the first installment of the Charlie Parker series by internationally bestselling author John Connolly. Haunted by the unsolved slayings of his wife and daughter, former New York City detective Charlie Parker is a man consumed by guilt, regret, and the desire for revenge. When his search for a missing woman leads him to the killer who destroyed his family, Parker knows payback time has come at last.

Aided by a beautiful young psychologist and two career criminals, Parker soon becomes the bait in a trap set in the balmy bayous of Louisiana to catch a murderer unlike any other — a monster who believes himself to be an artist and uses the human body as his canvas. Driven by his visions of the dead and the voice of an old Creole psychic, Parker must seek — and win — a final brutal confrontation with the serial killer known as the Traveling Man.

Every Dead Thing is a richly textured, intricately plotted novel that probes the mind of a tormented man whose buried instincts — for love, survival, and even killing — awaken as he confronts a monster beyond imagining and relentlessly pursues justice for the murder of his family.

Source: Info in the About Every Dead Thing was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175242.Every_Dead_Thing on 08/09/2012.

My Thoughts:

I picked this book up just because I met John Connolly on his book tour when The Wrath of Angels was released and I was impressed of how nice and down to earth the man is despite the success of his books and the fame. So I decided to try out his work.

There was a chapter which confused me a little where the narration continually swapped from a "Goldilocks" and an "autopsy". I didn't know whether Charlie was dreaming or going mad or thinking aloud. Or was it suppose to direct the readers' thinking in a certain direction?... This book also reminded me why crime fiction is not my genre, because I am not fond of gore stories, which most crime fiction inevitably is, including this one. Although compared to other crime fiction books, Every Dead Thing, may not be as gory in the gore-rating. Still, gory enough for me.

The plot is twisty enough to keep you guessing and the world building is masterful! I also appreciate John Connolly's wry humour. A book which makes me laugh would always get lots and lots of kudos and higher rating from me. Add humour to a compelling author's voice and you get a must-read book!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 4
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (15 hrs and 45 mins listening time)
Plot = 5
Narrator = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

BlogInk:

This review is also my entry to the blogink competition. Wish me luck!

Review: KISS ME DEADLY

Kiss Me Deadly by Michele Hauf
Book 2 of the Bewitch The Dark series
Genre: urban fantasy romance
Format: ebook

About Kiss Me Deadly:

Death cocktail is what the vampires call a witch's blood. It's poisonous--a drop will destroy a vampire within minutes. Nikolaus Drake is the rare vampire who has survived his first taste. Now he's on the hunt for the witch who almost brought him to his demise--Ravin Crosse.

A witch who spends her nights hunting vampire tribes, Ravin has three obligations to fulfill to set her soul free. One of those obligations--crafting a love spell--twists her world upside down when Nikolaus draws the spell from her veins. Natural enemies rarely make the best bedfellows--but is it possible their intentions are really, truly the same? Can Nikolaus's tribal loyalty survive if he surrenders to desires far darker than his own?

Source: Info in the About Kiss Me Deadly was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/672843.Kiss_Me_Deadly_Bewitch_the_Dark_2_ on 15/01/2012.

Review:

Okey, I'll be honest, I read this book just because it was downloadable for free at that time. And secondly, I wanted to try out this author's work. And thirdly, it's in my genre. This author's voice is likeable enough. Although I needed breaks in between so this book could never be described as a "one-sitting read".

What I didn't like about it though is it's ridiculous plot... I mean a phoenix vampire rushes out to get help for his dying friend who is in excruciating pain. Goes to someplace which I thought that he thinks might have something to offer said dying friend, but intead waste precious minutes to have drama talk with another team of bad guys and then storms out to look for help for the dying friend someplace else. WTF!! That scene is not just weak plot, it's downright ridiculous! And that example is not the only non-sensical plot in the story. Sinks the suspension of disbelief down to the bottom of the ocean!

The male protagonist was described as a good leader yet behaved totally opposite to that description to the point of him being unrecognizable from the character he is suppose to be. Inconsistent character development is yet another annoying element in this book.

I really like the premise of enemies falling in love. I also like the journey to maturity of both the male and the female protagonists. Seeing them grow and change before my eyes is wonderful! And of course I like that the story is in my favourite genre and the fact that it got vampires, werewolves and witches in it, but I don't think I would be buying any book by this author at all.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3
Character development = 1.5
Story itself = 3.5
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = 1.5
Plot = 1

Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5 cherries


FTC Disclosure:
This ebook was downloaded for free at amazon.co.uk last year or so. No money received for this review.

WW28: FATED

WW28
A chance to showcase your favourite!

• First you grab our Wicked Wednesday pic.
• Then you grab a book. Turn to page 28. Take the first sentence. And then you post it in your site with a link back to WW28.
• Come back to Cherry Mischievous - WW28 and give us the url of your post (in a comment at a WW28 post) so that other WW28 readers can find your WW28 offering.

WW28 book offering: Fated by Benedict Jacka

"Luna was curled up on one corner of the sofa, while I was sprawled in my favourite chair."

As a teaser, that line is not very inspiring... but seeing that I haven't read this book yet, I could not show you a better one... however, this book must have more in it if Jim Butcher endorsed it...

About Fated:

Alex Verus is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London. And while Alex's own powers aren't as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing the possible future--allowing him to pull off operations that have a million-to-one-chance of success.

But when Alex is approached by multiple factions to crack open a relic from a long-ago mage war, he knows that whatever's inside must be beyond powerful. And thanks to his abilities, Alex can predict that by taking the job, his odds of survival are about to go from slim to none...

Source: Info in the About Fated was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11737387-fated on 03/05/2012.

Gueat Post: DEAN CRAWFORD

“APOCALYPSE”

Mankind has feared, and been fascinated by, the end of the world ever since he achieved self-awareness. Our mortality is a constant, and even the farthest reaches of our technological achievements have been unable to shield us entirely from the spectre of annihilation. Of all the species that have lived on planet Earth, 99% are extinct. Of all the dozens of species of hominin to have walked the Earth only ourselves, Homo sapiens, remains. Giant asteroid collisions, super-volcanoes and continental magma fields, dramatic climate change: all have routinely scoured the surface of our planet of all but the hardiest forms of life. Everything changes, and does so with alarming regularity.

Yet despite all of these cataclysmic extinction-level events, our demise, should it occur, will most likely be by our own hand. In “Apocalypse”, the threat to mankind is the wielding of time itself through a futuristic but genuinely feasible technology that would, if it became unstable, consume our entire planet in a fearsome blaze of gravitational fury. Our species is the only one in the history of our planet that is able to change our environment to suit ourselves: we are no longer slaves to natural selection. But that power comes with tremendous responsibility and although so far we have avoided a civilisation-wrecking thermonuclear exchange or a lethal planet-wide pandemic, humanity teeters constantly on the knife-edge of brinkmanship. Our future is in the hands of science, and that science is often wielded by powerful men who have no right to it, but possess the funds to acquire it.

It would be wonderful to be able to see into the future, to find out what will become of our race in a hundred or even a thousand years. The temptation to do so would be almost overwhelming, both in terms of curiosity and also philanthropically – if the future is a disaster for humankind, could we change something in the here and now to prevent that...

Apocalypse by Dean Crawford
Genre: urban fantasy | thriller

About Apocalypse:

A private Learjet filled with scientists travels across the ocean toward Miami. As it passes through the Bermuda Triangle, strange effects disturb the instruments and violent weather envelops the aircraft until it plummets out of control and vanishes without trace.

In Miami, Sheriff Kyle Sears arrives at a murder scene. A woman and her daughter have both been shot through the head. But while Sears is still on the scene he receives a phone call from the woman's husband. With uncanny accuracy, he predicts the immediate future just as it unfolds around Sears, before revealing that he, too, will be murdered within 24 hours. The man gives him the name of someone he must contact. Ethan Warner.

As Ethan Warner and his partner Nicola Lopez race to investigate, they are thrown into the centre of a mind-boggling plot to blow a hole in the space-time continuum.

Source: Info in the About Apocalypse was from http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Apocalypse/Dean-Crawford/9780857204752 on 29/10/2012.

Buy Link(s):

About Dean Crawford:

Dean Crawford began writing after his dream of becoming a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force was curtailed when he failed their stringent sight tests. Fusing his interest in science with a love of fast-paced revelatory thrillers, he soon found a career that he could pursue with as much passion as flying a fighter jet. Now a full-time author, he lives with his partner and daughter in Surrey.

Dean's Link(s):
www.deancrawfordbooks.com
S&S author page
@DCrawfordBooks

Book Link(s):
Book page
@WarnerandLopez

Publisher Link(s):


@simonschusterUK