Does it matter to you if the hero or heroine ever say I love you? In Iris Johansen’s REAP THE WIND, the hero never once utters the words but there is no mistaking that he does. But then I understood why he didn’t. He’d just suffered major loss and didn’t want to be hurt again.

REAP THE WIND (the original version and not the rewritten version) was a fabulous book, btw and I don’t think that it took anything away from the relationship that he didn’t say the L word. His actions spoke more than any words ever could have done. So, what say you? As a reader, must the hero whisper the words “I love you” for completion or is the phrase highly overrated? And not the tacked on kind where the hero/heroine say I love you and you’re left trying to figure when that actually happened.

Remember Theresa Weir, the romance writer? Who wrote some of my favorite stories like Amazon Lilly, American Dreamer and Cool Shade? She also writes very good suspense under the name of Anne Frasier, too (Play Dead, Sleep Tight, Pale Immortal).

The Replacement by Anne Frasier: Paranormal Short Story

I recently read THE REPLACEMENT (Kindle version, $1.00 and Scribd). As short as this story is and according to the page count on my Kindle app - 22 pages, this was seriously good but short. Too short.

As the title suggests, THE REPLACEMENT is a paranormal short that involves a dead body, black magic, a cemetery, college frat kids and a reanimation kit. I hope the author will seriolusly consider making this short short story into a longer length novel. The moral dilemma the hero faces in this story is quite interesting if it were to fully play out. Food for thought, Ms. Fraiser.

Make Those Backlists Into Ebooks!

Wish more authors would do this - making their backlist accessible to readers in digital format, if they own the rights to their books that is (must throw in that cravat). Michelle Jerott (who also writes as Michele Albert) does this already with her early books and the prices are really cheap for these full length novels like All Night Long, A Great Catch, which were excellent reads, btw. In fact you can download and read Absolute Trouble for free.

Also, Anne Frasier aka Theresa Weir is also in the process of making her backlists available in ditgal format via Kindle. She’s starting off with one title, BAD KARMA (and one I have but yet to read). The ebook will be available on Amazon and Scribd tentatively next week so make sure to look for it. I am very excited that she is taking steps to make her hard to find print books accessible again to old and new readers alike.

The Pusher by Ed McBain (who also wrote as Evan Hunter) is the third book in the 87th Precinct series. The series is told in third person and has a large cast and diverse set of characters. In the afterword, the author sums up the premise of the series saying it is about the “conglomerate hero in a mythical city.”

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“There are, to be truthful, a lot of troubles with murder — but there’s one in particular.

It gets to be a habit.”

“The Pusher” like the others in this series, is set in the fictional city of Isola. A high ranking cop learns an ugly truth about his son and finds himself compromising his job and his principles to protect him.

Detective Lieutenant Peter Byrnes gets a call from an anonymous stranger who tells him that his son is a junkie. Like most hardworking cops, Byrnes hasn’t been around his family much. His wife Harriet has always understood the demands of his job and knows that she is a cop’s wife.

So this awful news about his only son, Larry, throws him for a loop. The scene where Byrnes confronts his son about his heroin addiction was emotionally tense and electrifying because Byrnes goes from a concerned father to a cop who interrogates his son. That scene between father and son was fully charged to say the least.

To complicate matters even more, a pusher by the name of Anibal Hernandez is found dead from an apparent suicide/overdose with a syringe that might have Larry’s fingerprints on it suggesting that he was the last person to see Anibal alive. Byrnes is committed to finding this “stranger” who seems to know more about his family than he does and threatens to expose his son.

Detective Steve Carella and another officer are investigating the Hernandez death and find that things just don’t add up. To Carella, Hernandez’s death doesn’t look like a suicide so he digs deeper, searching for a pusher with the street name of “Gonzo” and gets three bullets to the chest from a .32 calibre gun for his efforts. His wife Teddy, who is mute and can’t speak, stands vigil by his side.

I’m hooked. This series and McBain’s writing is timeless as another reader has stated. I can’t do this book justice in how good it was to read. The writing is simply flawless but still it is not a perfect read. What fascinates me about this series is the writing and the characters.

Despite the fact that cops come and go in this series, they each make their own mark. But the central recurring character in the 87th and who we have been mainly following is Steve Carella. I love this guy. The fact that he married a woman who can’t hear or speak says a lot about his character.

Steve and his wife, Teddy make a really nice couple and the author goes a little bit into how they first met. Their scenes together, the few times we get to see them together, are memorable. Here is a brief snippet of Teddy’s thoughts about how they first met:

He had entered the office, and he was tall, and he walked erect, and he wore his clothes as if he were a high-priced men’s fashion model rather than a cop. He had showed her his shield and introduced himself, and she had scribbled on a sheet of paper, explaining that she could neither hear nor speak, explaining that the receptionist was out, that she was hired as a typist, but that her employer would see him in a moment, as soon as she went to tell him the police were there. His face had registered mild surprise. When she rose from her desk and went to the boss’s office, she could feel his eyes on her all the way.

McBain seems to not end his books in any big way. The cases get solved by good detective work, sweating suspects in the interrogation room and then hauling the bad guy away in cuffs. No big bang or shoot outs here. In the end, this was a well written story about the seedier side of the street. We see that junkies come from all different social and economical backgrounds. The ending was a bit idealistic but this is fiction after all.

I also enjoyed reading the afterword where the author admits that Carella was originally meant to die in this entry but that his editors at Pocket wouldn’t let him kill “the hero.” Oh, noooo. Thank goodness his editors guided him down the right path in keeping Carella alive because he is truly a great guy and hero. The Pusher gets a grade of B+ from me. Onwards to the next 87th Precinct novel.

Additional book info: The Pusher is a reissue and is currently available as an ebook and is #3 in the 87th Precinct series. Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group Pub. Date: November 2002 ISBN-13: 9780743463058

Via MangaBlog, the New York Times has posted it’s bestselling graphic novels for the week of June 20th. Not a whole lot of surprises there but I am very interested in Grant Morrison’s work. I enjoyed his breathing new life into Superman in “All-Star Superman” but haven’t tried anymore of his work. Will have to rectify that as his latest from DC Comics, “Final Crisis” sits at the top of the bestseller list for hardcovers. Other titles not mentioned in the article but are worth reading: Vampire Knight, Real, Blood Alone, Vagabond and Monster, to name a few.

I’d recently read Gear Diary’s article titled, DRM Rears It’s Ugly Head and It is Ugly which serves to remind us all that as consumers we are cut off at the knees when it comes to dealing with DRM. I’ve run into it myself and from my experience with it, DRM leaves readers feeling shafted. It sucks.

The only way to work around dealing with DRM is to buy non-secured ebooks or break the law and strip it off yourself. Google is your friend. But remember, most of your favorite authors rarely, if ever, release new ebooks in a non-secure format.

Secure ebooks are almost always wrapped up in the barb wire that is known as DRM which stands for “data rights management” or some derivative thereof. Most publishers require DRM on their ebooks so until things change, it’s something that ebook readers will have to deal with unfortunately.

While I have jumped hoops for a format I prefer and have shaken my head at some of the most bone-headed decisions made by publishers especially when talking about the pricing of ebooks, I must say, the benefits outweigh the risks or annoyances of using ebooks. I’d like to think that as readers we are resilient.

DRM does nothing but annoy consumers and at the same time, industry insiders or others have said that DRM does nothing to inhibit piracy. DRM is akin to the publisher giving the consumer the middle finger and reminding us that we own nothing. It is the ugly side of digital publishing that I hope gets eradicated someday soon.

One of the types of DRM that I loathe is the one used by eReader (how ironic) because it requires that you unlock your ebooks with your credit card. God forbid if you should lose that CC.

Just a Quick note: As an aside, I was truly shocked at the sudden death of Michael Jackson. Before you roll your eyes or make a comment about his character, please note that I didn’t care much for his personal life. And really, you don’t have to love the man to love his music.

Ran across Blood Work yesterday afternoon and started rereading it after I went looking for another book in my library. I just started flipping through pages and decided to do a quick reread. I’d read BLOOD WORK a few years ago and enjoyed it fully. In fact, this is _the_ novel that got me hooked on Michael Connelly’s work.

BLOOD WORK is one of those police procedural’s that starts off slow and unassuming. You have what appears to be a random crime that turns out to be not so random. I just love stories that appear to be more than what they seem on the surface. All it takes is the right pull of the thread to watch it all start unraveling.

Ex-FBI agent, Terry McCaleb is recovering from having heart transplant surgery. He is now on disability leave from the bureau and is enjoying life as a fisherman these days. His retirement and recovery time is soon interrupted, however, when a stranger asks him to investigate the shooting death of a woman at a convenient store in LA.

The stranger is a woman name Graciela Rivers. She’s a nurse who has figured out that McCaleb was the recipient donor of her sister’s heart. She asks McCaleb to investigate the death of her sister since the case hasn’t garnered any leads or suspects. She sees him as her last hope for closure.

McCaleb is naturally, caught off guard by the woman’s request but he listens, thinks it over and then decides, against doctor’s orders, to look into the case out of a sense of obligation to the dead sister. As he investigates though, things are not looking random at all and to say more would be to spoil the story for you so I will stop there.

BLOOD WORK builds up nice and slow before picking up speed towards the end. The robbery that McCaleb is asked to look into, has turned into a cold case. As readers you are left wondering how McCaleb, a former agent, is going to close this cold case. But he does so, quite convincingly, because he is a man who is good with the paper trail and detective work.

Michael Connelly is one of my favorite mystery writers. I often describe him as being a solid writer. He has yet to disappoint me after reading five of his novels. After reading BLOOD WORK, I moved onto one of his earlier novels,THE BLACK ECHO which is the first book in the Harry Bosch series. It’s another story set in Los Angeles featuring an LAPD cop in homicide. That is another strong series that I follow.

I like Connelly because he is a writer who addresses the social issues of the moment. Usually he is always seen discussing the LA riots, the OJ Simpson trial or the Rodney King beating caught on tape because in someway those events have shaped the citizens of the city.

Usually his characters are having to deal with the aftermath or blow back of those incidents. And that’s where Connelly shines because he is always tapping into the pulse of the city, examining the racial tension and the political nature of law enforcement in the city of Los Angeles.

Another reason why I like Connelly is because he does such a thorough job with his characterizations and his setting and he often has a diverse cast of characters. His stories are almost always plotted well and the pacing is kinetic. It doesn’t take me that long to finish one of his books. There’s nary a romance in here but the men in his books do tend to enjoy female company upon occasion.

If you enjoy mystery or you’re interested in venturing out into the mystery aisle, you should pick up Michael Connelly’s books. If I had a complaint about his work it would be that he tends to do a good job with his research and often the narrative tone can come across as a lecture. Or sometimes there might be moments of info dumping but that is rare. Other than those two things, I’d be hard pressed to complain.

Whatever flaws Connelly has in his story’s construct or otherwise is not so easily obvious to me. Bottom line is that Connelly entertains and Blood Work does, too. Clint Eastwood portrayed Terry McCaleb in the movie version of BLOOD WORK that’s now out on DVD somewhere. And no, I have yet to see the movie and doubt that I ever will. B.

Additional book Info:
BLOOD WORK is the first book in the Terry McCaleb unofficial series. Often Connelly have his characters work together. So you will often find McCaleb in a Harry Bosch book and vice versa. More deets are below. ETA: Just about all of his books are in ebook format. All of them.

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pub. Date: October 1998
ISBN-13: 9780446602624

This is Senetra’s TBR challenge review. I was remiss in posting it on Wednesday due to real life events monopolizing my time but here it is folks.

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The book I pulled out of my TBR pile for this month is , one of my favorite Kimani authors. It’s an Arabesque novel, a line that was first published by Kensington, then bought by BET, then sold to Harlequin and now published under Kimani Press.

I mention this because this book is one of a connected series that has been been continued through all the sales of the line, and might have different publishers listed. The families involved are the Deverauxs, Cochrans, and maybe some Argonnes, but I can’t say for certain because I haven’t read all the books yet. That said, there are A LOT of people in and out of the story. Some had their stories previously, some will have their stories, and since I’ve read out of order, I’m not always sure who is who, when, or where.

Ceylon Simmons is a semi-famous actress and singer who was raised by her grandparents after her mother left her at the hospital following her birth. She has older siblings, but her mother chose to raise them. Ceylon wants to be accepted by her siblings so much that she hired her brother Duane as her manager, only to have him steal all of her money and flee the country. Her mother, Louise, (you remember her, she abandoned Ceylon at the hospital) asks her not to press charges, so she doesn’t.

Duane also avoided paying her income taxes for five years, which she discovered when the IRS came calling. Instead of filing bankruptcy (which I don’t think is something you can do in real life to avoid the IRS), Ceylon has been working non-stop for a couple of years to repay what she still owes after the IRS confiscated and sold everything she owned. When she finally collapses, her friend Bennie offers her the use of her family’s beach house to recuperate, where Ceylon runs into Martin Deveraux, Bennie’s brother-in-law. Martin’s there to install an outdoor shower, and Ceylon has had a kind-of crush on him for a while.

Martin Deveraux was scarred in an car accident almost a decade ago. He discovered his wannbe-model wife was about to have an abortion so she could leave him for someone richer who didn’t want children. He sped off in the car to stop her, only to crash in an attempt to avoid an accident ahead of him. When his wife does show up at the hospital, she vomits at the sight of his missing eye and burns from the accident. His beloved toddler nieces also cried when they came to visit him at the hospital, so he decided that they shouldn’t have to endure his horrible visage, but the younger babies who were born after the accident don’t know anything different and get to see him all the time.

This book had a few different story lines for the two characters. First, there’s Ceylon’s money. Is she really that stupid? Martin decides to hire an investigator to find Duane and set up a sting. Then Ceylon decides it was stupid to let Duane get away with what he did. Too late, the sting worked, money is recovered. Then Louise tells Ceylon that it was really mean to press charges after Duane got arrested for his shady dealings, and threatens to tell the world who Ceylon’s real (famous) daddy is. And we find out that’s why she left her at the hospital. Between the dramas about Ceylon’s money, Martin decides it’s time to get a new eye and have plastic surgery to remove the scar. He also finds out that his nieces cried because their favorite uncle was hurt, not because he was hideous. Martin makes up with the family members he distanced himself from, including his identical twin brother. Louise reveals to the world the news about Ceylon’s parentage. Someone dies in a plane crash, setting up a later book. A LOT of characters make appearances, and at some point Martin and Ceylon fall in love, but I’m not sure where.

Grade C.

I am trying to make the effort to post something new everyday or every other day. Just don’t hold me to it if I happen to lapse a bit, ok? Anyway, as I was sitting at my desk, brainstorming for a new topic, I found myself staring at my Sony Reader and saw that it hadn’t been charged in more than a month. The battery was dead of course from non-usage.

Today, I charged her up because I remembered that I had a book I needed to read on that thing. But you know something? I haven’t been reading on my Sony lately. Why? My cellphone is just so much more convenient.

I’m not reviewing iPhone applications here but listing the reader apps that I am currently using on my iPhone. I’m sure you can find all kinds of reviews out there on google if that is what you like. This is just one reader’s opinion and experience with using the iPhone as a ereading device. I am also no technical guru and have no tech savvy whatever. I am just a reader with an opinion and an iPhone (that I hope to upgrade today at no charge for the 32GB 3 GS).

eReader App for iPhone

As much I lurve my Sony Reader, I like reading on my iPhone more. Why? Well, it doesn’t look too shabby as you can see for yourself from the pics (click on image to enlarge). The book I am currently reading on it is “The Pusher” by Ed McBain. Doesn’t it look nice? Sure the screen is small but I’m used to that having had a Pocket PC and using ubook. I’m sure the tiny print is probably what’s responsible for making me four eyed but I don’t actually mind reading on my iPhone and the experience has actually been quite pleasant.

The eReader Pro app doesn’t have as much flex as say Stanza when it comes to organizing your ebooks. What I do love about eReader Pro is the ability to buy my ebooks from Fictionwise, usually the multi-formatted ebooks or the DRM’d ereader format (.pdb) and when I open the application up on my iPhone, the books are automatically downloaded to my library. All I have to do is read. That almost sounds like a Kindle, doesn’t it?

Stanza Is Still #1

I love reading on Stanza just a tiny bit more than eReader and even added, with the help of Jane, the capability to use Calibre2Web with it which makes it full of win. I am able to have a online ebook catalog that is nicely organized and have my books at my disposal as long as my computer/laptop is running. I guess this makes my computer my own personal server. Of course, your ebooks must be converted to ePub. Use google to understand how to do that.

Calibre2Web makes it possible for me not to have to download everything to my iPhone and more importantly, it takes away the tedious job of having to download ebooks one at a time. How awesome is that? To set up Calibre2Web is no picnic and it took me approximately 4 hours to get it done but it is so worth the effort and the accompanying headache to set it up. In fact, Jane sounded like she probably could have strangled me but she was patient with me till the end. As usual.

Cellphones Make Good Reading Devices

Cellphones make good reading devices but that is just this reader’s opinion. I know some people do not like the screen size for reading. I never would have thought or said that a year ago but I strongly stand behind that statement today. Cellphones offer, what else, convenience. It’s my one stop shop for phone/music/reading/videos/movies and so on and so forth. It’s an all in one entertainment center.

In fact, all I would really need or require of my iPhone is that the battery life be superior. Apple has finally made a version of the iPhone that I am willing to upgrade to because it offers 32GB of storage space. I mean, imagine, the capacity to upload 100+ ebooks on a cellphone that I can slip into my purse or clip to my hip (I do a lot of the former). Isn’t that nice?

The Sony Reader PRS 505 is nice, too, but compared to the iPhone, it’s bulky and it doesn’t fit into my junky purse well at all; and sure, it will play your mp3’s and display pictures for you. Can you say so what? And to add insult to injury, it’s not even backlit due to the well known technological limitations inherent of E-Ink devices but you can buy a integrated reading light to resolve that issue. However, my iPhone is already backlit so, yeah. Is it fair to compare a smartphone to a dedicated reader? Probably not but I don’t much care.

I used to use Zachary Bedell’s Bookshelf but as nice as that application is, I rarely if ever use it anymore. It just doesn’t hold up to the competition, unfortunately. So, this wraps up my brief article on why my iPhone is preferred over my Sony Reader. I will still read on my Sony Reader, of course, hell, I paid for it, but it is a secondary device. The only problem I can see right now with using my iPhone is that I am locking myself into the eReader format and if Fictionwise should go belly up, my ebooks would be going with them. Maybe. Unless I learn how to strip the DRM off these ebooks but then that’s illegal.

Conclusion
iPhone equals convenience and it’s only natural to assume that more and more people will be reading on them. The only thing really missing is the one-click purchase and auto-download feature from your phone (not your desktop). You can use Safari and navigate to those websites to purchase your ebooks at Stanza and/or eReader Pro. I desire something akin to iTunes where you search, select and purchase as they say, “over the air.” I don’t utilize Stanza or eReader Pro to purchase ebooks. Nope. It’s a major headache. But then that discussion goes beyond the scope of my article. I’m just hear to tell you that reading on a cellphone is a lot more appealing and convenient than reading on a bulky, dedicated ereader device. I’m sure everything I’ve written thus far is not news but hey, I enjoyed writing it anyway.

Historical romances have always been and will always be my first love thanks to the talents of Laura Kinsale and Judith Ivory. This month’s theme was to pick a story that featured a tortured hero or heroine.

Well, I decided to forgo that theme and instead, picked a story that featured a dark hero and highwayman who targets the wealthy ariosto’s who dare tread the deserted parish roads late at night. This is no Robin Hood story here but more or less a game of risk, survival and true love.

In, “Pale Moon Rider,” the story is set during a time of strife where England is currently at war with France. The French Revolution is also underway amid the threat of Napoleon’s successful invasion of Italy. Like many of the nobility in France, the heroine, Renee d’Anton has fled from the Terror with her brother, Antoine, and their manservant, Finn, to England. They end up seeking refuge in the home of her uncle, Lord Paxton, who is a prominent member of Parliament and a blackguard. He along with two other men have been profiting from aristos who have managed to get their fortunes out of France but who were themselves unsuccessful in escaping Robespierre.

Lord Paxton has arranged for Renee to marry a commoner to alleviate himself of the burden of his unexpected house guests. The impending nuptials thrust Renee into a dilemma. She seeks out the elusive Captain Starlight in the hopes of getting him to steal some very expensive rubies for her. The goal is to sell the rubies and take the money and run. The problem is that she is being blackmailed by Colonel Bernard Roth, an ambitious man looking to make a name for himself in capturing the elusive highwayman. The warrant over her brother’s head for attempted murder gives Renee no choice but to cooperate and help trap a thief who has eluded Roth’s militia for the past four months.

Tyrone Hart aka “Captain Starlight” has made a fool out of Roth with his remaining at large. Roth assigned himself to the Coventry for the sole purpose of capturing Tyrone. The two men enjoy a game of cat and mouse which dissolves into a personal dispute between the two men. Roth does not know of the dual identities of his quarry. Doesn’t even realize that the man he has been searching for relentlessly has been under his nose all along. Renee’s involvement is questionable at the start but as the story progresses her role becomes clear on which side her loyalties lie or defaulted to in the end. And really, that shouldn’t be a surprise since this is a romance after all. I did appreciate that she didn’t swing back and forth with her loyalties, however. With that said, I will not elaborate further on the plot.

So, how did I enjoy Pale Moon Rider? I liked the story but it was somewhat wordy. Too many details for inane stuff (or at least to me). I liked Tyrone but his character was predictable. No surprises in here, really and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. One big plus is that the author’s historical setting wasn’t wall paper. The French revolution played a significant role in the story and I liked the political suspense in here, too. That stuff never bores me. The author seemed well versed in her history.

I also liked that the hero’s motive behind his being a thief wasn’t due to some major childhood trauma or that he was driven by some need for revenge. He enjoyed stealing from the rich but did leave the common folk alone. The villains were smart and the plotting was tight and somewhat complex. The story moved at a pretty decent pace.

The romance which is at the heart of the story was nice but didn’t really captivate me or live up to expectations. Despite my lack of enthrallment, the romance was decent. I’m not a big fan of sex scenes that are overly long so I did skim the few that were in here. Just as an aside, sex scenes more than a paragraph in length bore me and that usually starts me to skimming.

Pluses for me: complex plot, nice pacing, plenty of h/h interaction along with excellent characterization. Negatives: wordiness, overly long sex scenes and predictability. My grade, B. I could and did put this book down and forget about it. In fact, I was quite anxious to be rid of it so that I could read something else. So, it’s a low B-/C+ for me.

Please make sure to visit the other participants who have posted reviews for this month’s TBR Challenge.

I love Twitter because yesterday afternoon, I learned something great. I just learned from @Shayera that Megan Whalen Turner has a new book coming out called, A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS, that is tentatively scheduled for March 23, 2010. Fans of Eugenides can now rejoice! We have another book in the saga. You can click here to see a screencap of the cover and synopsis and preorder your copy of the book here from Amazon. Didn’t see the book listed at BN. My brief commentary about the series is below the cut.

For those unfamiliar with Turner, her first book in the series is The Thief, which features Eugenides, a thief from Eddis who is asked to obtain a mythical gift in the first book. In the second book, Eugenides decides to toy with the Queen of Attolia and she metes out her revenge in the old fashioned way. In the last book, The King of Attolia, well, the title is self-explanatory. What I like about Eugenides is that he is unassuming and likes to appear the fool but he is far from it. The stories are richly layered and complex. There is plenty of political intrigue and suspense. The story also generates a unexpectedly, sweet and quiet romance.

The author made mention that the stories take place in a fictional recreation of Greece. How best to describe these books? Try historical fantasy with just a touch of magic. Although the books are labeled YA, rest assured that they can be enjoyed by adults. The stories get more and more complex as it goes along. Many fans have been anticipating a new story with Eugenides and his Queen. It will be nice to catch up with him and see what new adventure the author has set for him in A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS. What are your favorite titles in the series? And if you had to rank them? My favorite? Eh, hard to say. I loved them all. Thanks for your comments in advance.

Overheated by Barbara Dunlop is apart of Harlequin’s NASCAR line. This review was submitted by fellow reader and contributor, Senetra.

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A couple of years ago, when I saw that Harlequin had a new line that would focus on families in the NASCAR world, I pretty much ignored it. I’m not a fan, and I’ll even admit to having some prejudices about the sport, even though I know people who build and race cars as a hobby.

The books have been around for a bit now, and I had managed to not read them, and continued to do so until one day in my former job at a library, I flipped over one of the anthologies and found the blurb interesting enough that I checked the book out. I liked it enough that I decided to give another book a chance, and got Overheated by Barbara Dunlop. It features a May-December romance, with the age difference being 22 years. I almost rejected it because I somehow got it into my head that the heroine was 22 and dating a 44 year-old. It’s closer to 30-50, and since I’m never going to see 30 again, it’s not that big of a deal.

Crystal Hayes is 28, a frustrated writer, and working as a delivery driver for her father’s auto-parts company, so she’s been around racing a long time, and has learned to handle herself (and men) as a woman in a male-dominated sport. Larry Grosso is 50, and part of the Grosso racing family, but since he makes a better mathematician than mechanic, he teaches at the local university and consults for NASA. Both are widowed; Larry’s wife died of a heart attack after a happy marriage, and Crystal’s Navy husband died of SCUBA equipment failure the day after she asked him for a divorce. Larry misses his wife and Crystal just feels guilty that others see her as the grieving widow when she’s really not. The story has a couple of conflicts happening. The first is the age difference. Larry and Crystal acknowledge it and move on and commence to falling in love, but everyone else has reservations. For the couple, age is less of an issue than Crystal wanting children, while Larry already has a grown son and a vasectomy. Their relationship is further complicated by Crystal’s alcoholic sister Amber, and her abusive ex-husband Zane. While Amber and Zane try to work it out, she leaves their son and daughter with Crystal for days, and sometimes weeks, on end. Insert an anvil of your choice here.

My only/biggest quibble with this book was Crystal’s attitude towards money: I didn’t understand it. She received money from her husband’s life/military insurance, and later on, she comes into more money via a bequest, but she is constantly thinking about how she can afford to write full time. Her parents have money, and run own their own successful company. Crystal says she feels like a fraud because she didn’t love her husband, and uses words like “integrity” when she explains why she won’t touch the money for her personal use, but she may use it for her own kids someday. Once scene actually had her trying to decide if she could wanted pizza on Saturday or an ice cream cone today, because she couldn’t afford both AND groceries on her budget. Whatever. You know how some readers hate secret babies? I hate characters who are stupid about money, and Crystal is stupid about money. Authors, please don’t give your characters lots of money and then have them refuse to use it because of “integrity”. It just makes them stupid and annoying. This brought the grade down a bit.

I had originally gotten this book from the library, but I liked it enough to buy it. I’ve since read more books in the series, and the heroes/heroines are everyone involved in the sport, from owners and drivers to the PR people, pit crew, and other support staff. The books are well worth a read. The deal with NASCAR has the bedroom door firmly shut, so even though they are having sex, it’s behind closed doors.

Grade B

*I posted a shorter version of this previously in AAR’s Recent Book Reviews thread*

Shutter Island is the latest Dennis Lehane book to go to film. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and it is directed by Martin Scorsese. Will I go see it? Probably not but that movie trailer doesn’t do half bad in making me change my mind. I loved the book. Loved. It. Highly recommend it. The movie comes out in October. Here is my review of the book. Hey, here’s an idea: read the book before the movie comes out!

via Twitter @JoeFinder (author)

Court Records: Singer Usher Files For Divorce (via ABC News)

R&B singer Usher filed for divorce Friday from Tameka Foster Raymond, less than two years after their glitzy wedding at a Georgia resort

I guess the thrill is gone already, huh?

Definition:

flash·back

–noun
1. a device in the narrative of a motion picture, novel, etc., by which an event or scene taking place before the present time in the narrative is inserted into the chronological structure of the work.
2. an event or scene so inserted. -from Dictionary.com

I must admit that as a reader I don’t really care for the heavy use of flashbacks. No. I hate them. I couldn’t explain to you the why of my displeasure with them only that I inwardly cringe when I run across them as they continue to go on and on at length. There are exceptions of course. Yes, of course! It would have to take a skillful writer to make me forget that I am lost in italicized flashbacks.

As with everything, there must be balance. If the majority of the story must be told in flashbacks then chances are slim to none that I’ll read your book or finish your book. I don’t mind “flashbacks” when they are maybe a paragraph or two in length but no, flashbacks for me are a major PITA. What say you, the gentle reader about flashbacks? Love them? Hate them? Neutral? Yes, this post was inspired by a book I am currently reading. That is all.

I read the first few pages of this comic book at the store and had to buy it when I couldn’t put it down. Manhunter: Street Justice vol.1 written by Marc Andreyko and illustrated by Jesus Saiz and Jimmy Palmiotti features a strong female character in the role of a crime-fighting vigilante.

Kate Spencer is a star prosecutor residing in Los Angeles. She loses a case when a meta-human, who are described as humans with a genetic flaw, goes free. “Copperhead” is one of many meta-humans who are at large. Kate doesn’t take defeat well, no, when the jury return a verdict of “not guilty” for his killing spree. It’s not his fault that he is a monster. When “Copperhead” strikes again, Kate opts not to use the judicial system this time and instead, dons a red suit with an electrified staff as her weapon and goes after justice, vigilante style.

On the home front, Kate is a divorcee and a single mother who shares joint custody with her ex. Kate is not the best mother in the world. She seems to prioritize her job over everything else. An unfortunate accident with her son doesn’t even make her slow down none either. In fact, it seems to strengthen her resolve in her chosen path and that is to add her skill set to the other superheroes who fight for the good of justice. Thus, she labels herself “Manhunter.” As expected, she finds her own techno geek to aide her in intel, training and keeping her wardrobe in good repair with some added functionality.

My reaction to this story is that this is a decent introduction to a new character that I’d never heard of before now. I like Kate only marginally so. Sarcasm just drips out of her mouth and no, she is not seen in the best light as a mother with a career. Alongside her penchant for smoking and her inner rage at being a failure, she decides to invoke her own brand of justice and that doesn’t make her all that heroic. But then maybe that is the point? Her character isn’t all that likable. She is full of attitude with plenty to spare.

The dialogue zips along, the artwork didn’t provoke any oohhs or ahhhhs - decent but then I am new to this genre so what do I know. Other DC characters put in brief appearances like The Joker, Batman, the Justice League. The villain - yes, there is one of course, is a bit odd. He goes by the name, Shadow Thief and seems to speak to himself in third person. A good match maybe for the Manhunter?

Overall, a B-/C+ because while I can respect a heroine created to kick ass, I really don’t like her. But then the creator gave all of these negative attributes and by story’s end, I hadn’t warmed up to her at all. Does she have any redeeming qualities? Other than to rid the world of meta-humans? You would be hard pressed to find them and I am not sticking around to find them either. The first installment didn’t really impress me much but then I am just one reader. While “Manhunter” is very readable and is a quick read at that, it is simply not for me. C+.

Manhunter: Street Justice collects the first five issues in the series and currently there are 38 issues in collected volumes available right now.

It’s that time again, to remind readers that next Wednesday is the next TBR Challenge day. This month’s theme is to read a story that features a tortured hero or heroine. If that theme doesn’t suit you then read whatever you like from your stockpile and review it with us on Wednesday, June 17. After all, you’re the boss. My guy isn’t a tortured hero, btw. No. He’s more like a highwayman. Can you guess the book? Are there a lot of books that feature highwaymen? See you next Wednesday!

Seducing an Angel by Mary Balogh (2009) is the fourth book in the Huxtable series released in hardcover and published by Dell. The following review was written by fellow reader and contributor, Senetra. Enjoy.

******

Stephen Huxtable, the Earl of Merton, first appeared as a 17-year-old young man in First Comes Marriage, then aged a few years in each subsequent book, and now he is 25 and the hero of his own story. Over the course of the previous books, Stephen seemed to have it all, a loving family, wealth, a title, and good looks. He was a complete Mary Sue; I can’t remember too much unhappiness on his part once he became the earl. Before I read the book, I tried to figure out what the conflict between the hero and heroine would be, but couldn’t think of anything that didn’t involve either a complete rewrite of his character, or some disfiguring incident that left him some combination of angry, bitter, scarred, and crippled. Stephen’s still hale and hearty, and I don’t recall Mary Balogh writing a simple Boy meets Girl romance, so all the angst and drama comes from the heroine.

Cassandra Belmont, Lady Paget, is a widow rumored to have killed her husband with an axe. The truth is that he was shot, but no one has come forth as a witness to say what actually happened, and as long as Cassandra left the estate and did not press her claim to it, her stepson was willing to let her go. This means that Cassandra is destitute, with now way to support her household, consisting of her former governess, Alice, a maid-of-all-work, Mary, and Mary’s daughter Belinda. They move to London where Cassandra is determined to set herself up as a rich man’s mistress. She spies Stephen in the park, and is attracted to his angelic looks and she decides he will make a good protector. In order to introduce herself to him, she crashes a ball, not realizing that the Earl and Countess of Sheringford are related to Stephen. Knowing all about social ostracism, they make her welcome, and she eventually convinces Stephen to come home with her. After a somewhat lackluster performance in bed, Stephen falls deeply asleep, only to awake the next morning and find Cassandra ready to negotiate a contract. Once he realizes just how poor Cassandra is, and figures out that her husband abused her, Stephen agrees to the arrangement, but is determined to have more than a wholly sexual relationship. Cassandra does not wish for emotional intimacy and tries to put the focus back on the sex.

Stephen manages to ignore Alice’s distaste for his relationship with Cassandra, but his conscience gets the better of him when he finds that Belinda lives in the house as well. Not wanting to taint her home, he ends the sex part of the contract, but tells Cassandra that he wants to get to know her better. This occurs in fits and starts, and Cassandra begins to piece her life back together, finally deciding to fight for her part of the estate and mending fences with her brother.

After reading this book, I’m not sure how much I like or know either of these characters. Cassandra is only three years older than Stephen is, but she sometimes tries to keep him at a distance treating him as if he’s a teenaged boy with a crush on her. I know this is part of her defense mechanism, but it got tiring, and at times, it felt as if Stephen’s feelings were more about lust than anything else. Yes, he fell in love with her, but I still can’t figure out why.

While I wasn’t as interested in this story as I was in the previous ones, I did want to find out how it wraps up for the siblings. This book had cameos by the sisters and their husbands, but it also felt very short, and after reading it, I decided that with some editing of the plot, this novel would have fit nicely in a two-author anthology instead of being a stand-alone hardcover release. There were some plot points and character interactions that felt more like padding than actual story development, and one that came out of what seemed like nowhere, and I’m still not sure if I buy it.

Grade: C

Note: Apparently this is a quintet? Look for another hardcover soon.

Some readers insist on reading a bad book. I can understand. No I can’t. The rationale for that type of reader behavior is usually this: I paid for it and I am going to finish it even if it kills me. The question is why bother? Why finish reading a story you strongly dislike? I mean if the story is flat out awful, I’m not making the effort to finish it when there are like ten other good books sitting in on my nightstand. I do differentiate bad books from books that are just slow to get started. What I’m talking about are books that have a bad start, period.

So, readers, tell me, when do you usually call it quits? The first chapter? The first 30 pages? The first sentence? When do you say: forget this crap, I’m reading something else. And really, it is OK for you not to finish every book that you start. Really.

Well, I’ve been in the mood for mystery and suspense of late and there was a recent discussion on Twitter about Ed McBain that whet my appetite and made me go looking to see what titles he had in ebook. Surprisingly, he had quite a few. Because this is a long-running series revolving around the 87th Precinct, I just closed my eyes, picked one, paid for it and dived right in.

“Hark!” is like the nth book in the 87th Precinct series set in the fictional city of Isola . Surprisingly, I was able to dive right in and follow along just fine. Sure there are established characters in here - quite a handful actually - but I wasn’t lost. The first chapter grips you by the throat and doesn’t let go. The theme is revenge. Gloria Stanford betrayed her partner in crime during a heist. She’d left him for dead and walked away with the loot. When her accomplice catches up with her, she tries to offer him the leftover cash but he shoots her twice in the chest and takes off. Adam Fen or as he is referred to by many as the “Def Man” is baaaack.

Detective/Second Grade Stephen Carella and the rest of the police squad of the 87th Precinct begin to receive missives after the murder of Stanford. The letters are all addressed to Carella. It’s a game of cat and mouse and Carella must figure out what the Def Man is up to next (and it can’t be any good). Their source for most of the quotes from the letters comes from Shakespeare’s plays courtesy of Carella’s son, Mark, who shows him how to use keywords and search phrases on the Internet. The villain also tends to use anagrams and palindromes to get his message(s) across as well. He’s a regular word smith, that one.

Most of the detecting is done in the squad room. Fancy that. For every missive received, they all congregated around Carella’s desk. There’s moments of humor to alleviate the tediousness, like the one scene where someone asks when is the first day of Spring? (in reference to the note they’ve received) and nobody knows the answer, so they all go looking for a calendar. As usual, women are treated differently in a precinct full of men and that rankles. Eileen Burke, the only woman in her precinct, is asked to use her “woman’s eye” to detect anything strange in the Stanford case that might have been missed by the men. She recognizes this sexist remark for what it is:

“So why else might he have killed her? That’s what I want you to bring your woman’s eye to.”
“I understand, sir. It’s like what the Walt Disney studio did a few years back.”
“The what?”
“The movie company.”
“Yes?”
“They hired a nineteen-year old girl to bring a teenager’s sensibility to a script a man had written for them.”
“Oh,” Byrnes said.
“Turned out she was in her thirties. The female writer they hired.”
“Oh,” Byrnes said again.
“But they figured a man couldn’t possibly know what a woman was thinking or feeling.”
“That’s right,” he said.
“Even if he was a writer.”

There are a lot of quotable scenes in here but this will be the last one where the team are gathered around and are trying to understand this latest letter sent to them from the Def Man. Eileen and another cop name Willis are secretly having an affair and what conversation they add smacks of sexual innuendo:

“A sword now?” Meyer asked.
“From spears to arrows to a sword,” Carella said.

He was already at the computer.

“Shouldn’t it be ‘Has a sharp edge?” Genero asked.
“Hath is what they said back in those days,” Parker explained.
“Sounds like a lisp,” Genero said.
“Maybe he’s gay,” Parker suggested. “This guy whose sword hath a sharp edge.”

“Don’t forget it’s long, too,” Eileen said, looking all wide-eyed and innocent.
“And reaches far,” Willis added.

Kling darted a look at both of them.

Who would have thought I’d be laughing while reading this book. It is full of win. The added humor in here was a surprise and a plus. Moving on. While the mystery was intriguing, it’s these guys personal lives that had me turning the pages quickly. Starting with Detective Carella, who is one of the featured and recurring characters in the 87th Precinct novels, is having a personal crisis. His mother and sister are getting married and he’s offered to pay for both weddings. His mother remarrying again doesn’t sit well with him and he misses his father deeply. This is one of the downsides to jumping into the middle of a series in that you miss out on the build-up of the relationships in here. Plus the added nuances, events and idiosyncrasies that make-up the character and give them life.

Another surprise for me was the diverse cast of characters. A black woman, Sharyn Cook, the Deputy Surgeon General, is dating a white police officer, Bert Kling of the 87th. I would have loved to have gone back and read about how that relationship got started as Kling loves her a lot and in here, he starts following her because she has lied to him about her whereabouts lately. He feels threatened by her colleague, a black doctor she is secretly meeting with and the two together are just a bit too friendly for Kling’s taste. That story arc was interesting as well.

Then there’s the media aspect of the story. Honey Blair, a popular reporter for Channel Four news, is dating cop, Cotton Hawes, of the 87th. On two different occasions he’s been shot at with Honey in the car. Honey suspects and thinks that she is the target of the shooter until she gets a note that says otherwise. Instead of turning over the note to the police, her program director decides to suppress it and sensationalize it, making Honey out to be the victim to increase her celebrity and ratings. Poor Hawes. He’s had to investigate the shootings himself while no one considers him a target or even important enough to be the target. Another, somewhat, comical storyline.

Anyway, there’s a lot in here worth discussing but I will stop there. I’d read McBain before in Fat Ollie’s Book and sure enough, Ollie Wendall Weeks of the 88th has a significant part in the story. While Carella and the gang are trying to break the code in the squad room, Ollie actually tries to track down Melissa Summers, a whore that Adam Fen aka ‘the Def Man’ has picked up and is using to help him in yet another heist. During his investigation, Ollie actually stumbles upon the person who stole his precious manuscript (Fat Ollie’s Book). Now, the relationship between Melissa and the Def Man was interesting in that things didn’t turn out as I had expected. Let’s just say that from the start and to the end of their working relationship, I wasn’t quite prepared for the twist but I should have seen it coming.

The dialogue is crisp, sharp and realistic. I love, love, loved the dialogue in here. I also like how McBain writes his female protagonists. He didn’t cater to stereotypes. He also doesn’t hold back on the racial attitudes/issues in society and especially in relationships. Why haven’t I read more McBain? I kept asking myself. I plan to buy all that I see available in ebook, prices be damned. Alas, the series ended with the author’s death in 2005. Unless someone can say otherwise, I believe McBain had the longest running series with the 87th Precinct.

Anyway, Hark! gets a B+ from me. Although the story was good, the mystery was moderately challenging and the dialogue was great, the book was easy to put down. However, I did think about it whenever I had free moment. This is one series I wish I could start from the beginning and is worth starting at the beginning. I wanted to know about Stephen Carella and how he met his wife, Teddy, who is mute/deaf. She’s never heard her husband’s voice. How sad. I found his character and his life very interesting.

Anyway, if you haven’t read Ed McBain yet, you really should if you enjoy mystery. Hark! is good place to read/start but again, the first book was published some umpteen years ago (Cop Killer) and the early books are not all in digital format. Might have to buy paper (gag). McBain was regarded as one of the best mystery writers and was revered for his cop fiction. He loves to compare/contrast between real cops and television cops because he had put forth a lot of effort to get it right. Anyway, this was a good book. B+.

I am a comic book geek (or recent convert) but am unfamiliar with the canon of popular comic book stories. I am unqualified to compare and contrast anything in this genre. Moving forward, I picked up MAD LOVE (2009) because for some odd reason I have a fascination with the Joker. The Joker is a rather interesting villain to me. He’s dark, edgy, psychotic and wholly unpredictable. Did you know that someone actually fell in love with the Clown Prince? This brings us to “Mad Love” the main story arc that’s highlighted in this hardcover reprint edition published by DC comics.

Mad Love is a love story, of sorts, as the title suggests. The Joker, who has escaped from Arkham is still determined to destroy Batman, as usual, in some elaborate master plan. Only this time he has an accomplice: Harley Quinzel. Miss Quinzel is a psychiatrist working at Arkham who befriends the Joker. She laughs at his jokes and gives him a sympathetic ear. She believes his lies and he gains her trust. Eventually she falls madly, deeply in love with the clown and breaks him free. She also sheds her good girl persona and changes her name from Harley Quinzel to Harley Quinn. There’s backstory on Ms. Quinn that showed just a hint of mischievousness that logically explains her character’s transformation. Moving on.

Since the two have been together, Harley Quinn’s affections for her “puddin” seems to be one-sided. She blames Batman for standing in the way of their love and decides to do something about it. So, she plots and schemes and actually succeeds where Joker has failed only he doesn’t see it that way. No. Joker’s rather large ego allows Batman to use that to his advantage in the climax of the story. My take on this love story: awesome storyline and dialogue. I enjoyed it immensely. Almost worth the cost of the hardcover price. Artwork - very nice as well. Also, I liked that even though Harley was never taken seriously, she was no dummy. She had a brain and she used it. Too bad she had poor taste in men.

As for the other stories, well, none were as good as Mad Love unfortunately but are worth reading I guess. One of the other stories I just skimmed completely. The other tales featured Scarecrow (that was good), Two-face, Bat-girl even puts in an appearance as does Batman’s adversary Selena Kyle aka Catwoman. There’s also the Arnold Wesker aka the “ventriloquist” and Scarface story (weak) among a few others. Simple, quick read. Worth reading at the library for the Mad Love story as that was quite excellent. B.