Hurricane Fever

Hurricane Fever by Tobias S. Buckell

Tom Doherty Associates: 7/1/2014
ebook, 272 pages
ISBN-13: 9780765319227
www.tobiasbuckell.com

Prudence “Roo” Jones never thought he’d have a family to look after—until suddenly he found himself taking care of his orphaned teenage nephew. Roo, a former Caribbean Intelligence operative, spends his downtime on his catamaran dodging the punishing hurricanes that are the new norm in the Caribbean. Roo enjoys the simple calm of his new life—until an unexpected package from a murdered fellow spy shows up. Suddenly Roo is thrown into the center of the biggest storm of all.

Using his wits—and some of the more violent tricks of his former trade—Roo begins to unravel the mystery that got his friend killed. When a polished and cunning woman claiming to be murdered spy’s sister appears, the two find themselves caught up in a global conspiracy with a weapon that could change the face of the world forever.

In Hurricane Fever, New York Times bestselling author Tobias Buckell (Arctic Rising, Halo: The Cole Protocol) has crafted a kinetic technothriller perfect for fans of action-packed espionage within a smartly drawn geo-political landscape. Roo is an anti–James Bond for a new generation.

My Thoughts: 
Hurricane Fever by Tobias S. Buckell is a very highly recommended, fast paced thriller that will leave you feeling like you have been through a hurricane of action.
 
Dreadlocked Prudence “Roo” Jones, a retired operative from the Caribbean Intelligence Group, is trying to live a quiet, retiring life on his catamaran, Spitfire II, while caring for his teenage nephew and watching out for hurricanes. Roo is tracking an approaching hurricane and preparing to sail to a safe harbor when he gets a message from Zee, a former colleague and friend. Zee simply says if Roo gets his message, Zee is dead and Roo needs to extract revenge. Zee's message sends Roo out on a dangerous mission where the approaching storm may not be a destructive as the people now after him. And is the woman, Kit, who claims to be Zee's sister really his sister or could she have other motives for reaching out to Roo?
 
Set in the Caribbean in the near future, this is a fast paced thrilled that moves with lightning speed from one action packed encounter to another. I love what Publisher's Weekly said in their review rating the climax as "one white cat shy of a Bond movie" - a very apt description. This is a perfect summer read since the plot moves along so swiftly it holds your attention and there are no little niggling details to remember as you race to the dramatic climax. (And, not to spoil any plot points, but it showcases two of my favorite subjects: weather and bio-warfare.)
 
Buckell knows how to write an engrossing thriller in an unequivocal style: clear, concise and captivating while still managing to insert a whole lot of action and interesting plot developments.
 
There is violence (just like in a Bond movie) but Buckell doesn't revel in showcasing the gore or making it excessive. This is a fun, entertaining read that shouldn't disappoint readers.


Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Tom Doherty Associates via Netgalley for review purposes.

The Infinity Program

The Infinity Program by Richard H. Hardy

Coffeetown Enterprises, Inc.: 4/1/2014
ebook, 250 pages
ISBN-13: 9781603819336

Jon Graeme and Harry Sale are unlikely friends. Harry is a world-class programmer, but his abrasive personality alienates co-workers. In contrast, Jon is a handsome and easy-going technical writer, the low man on the IT totem pole. Sharing a love of nature, the men set out together, planning to go their separate ways--Jon on a hike and Harry, fly fishing. Three days later, Jon arrives at the rendezvous point, but his friend is nowhere in sight. When Jon finds Harry unconscious on the floor of a cave, Harry claims to have been lying there the entire time. But he is neither cold nor hungry. What Jon doesn't know is that Harry fell into an underground cavern, where he came into contact with an alien quantum computer. Back at work, Harry jettisons his regular tasks and concentrates exclusively on inventing new operating language to access the alien system. In the process he crashes his office's Super Computer and is fired. Jon convinces the company to give Harry a second chance, arguing that the system he has invented will make them millions. Jon has no idea what havoc Harry is about to unleash.

My Thoughts:

The Infinity Program by Richard H. Hardy is a recommended light science fiction novel with a major focus on office politics.

Jon Graeme is a newly hired technical writer whose boss sends him to get information from eccentric, curmudgeon-like programmer Harry Sale. His boss was under the assumption that Jon would fail to acquire what he needed, but instead Jon ends up befriending Harry. After a brief friendship the two go off on a fishing/hiking adventure together. While Jon hikes up the mountain, Harry stays behind to fish. Harry ends up falling into a mysterious hole in a cave. When Jon returns three days later, he finds Harry unconscious on the cave floor. When they get back to work, Harry begins programming 24/7 like a man possessed. In the cave Harry encountered an alien technology and he suddenly has an idea for a new programming language.

Rather than being a focused science fiction novel, it really is quite light on the sci-fi and heavy on the office politics. In fact, the whole scheme of office politics seemed a bit dated by today's standards. Currently, there are many avenues of recourse through Human Resources in place at large companies to handle cases of sexual harassment at work, an unreasonable request from a boss, etc. While it succeeded in creating tension and a protagonist, the office politics part of the novel felt like it was written 20 years ago.  Even the set up of the company seemed old school.

Also it was odd to only have one female character, even in the world of programmers. The female character we get is Lettie, who seems more a fantasy than a real woman. It seems that some men retire and know they have a book to write. Then they make their female characters that stuff of dreams/porn rather than a real person. It would be refreshing to see some strong, confident women as characters involved in the actual plot rather than simply as a love interest.

This is a simple, predictable plot, told in a simple, uncomplicated style. There is not a whole lot of character development. The world of programming is not presented in an intricate, detailed manner so anyone should be able to follow the plot without confusion or extra knowledge. There are some grammatical errors and other problems with the writing that you should be forewarned about before you read The Infinity Program.

For all its faults, I have to say that there was something charming about the uncomplicated quaint feel to the writing. Once my expectations were lowered, as far as any major plot twists or character development,  I actually enjoyed the book.


Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the author and Premier Virtual Author Book Tours for review purposes.    http://www.virtualauthorbooktours.com/

 

Forsaking Home

Forsaking Home by A. American

Penguin Group: 6/24/2014
Trade Paperback, 416 pages
ISBN-13: 9780142181300
Survivalist Series #4
angeryamerican.net/content.php

They survived the collapse, but can they survive the aftermath?

Morgan Carter has weathered the weeks after the collapse of the nation’s power grid, reuniting with his family and ensuring their safety, but his struggle isn't over yet. Carter must focus on survival in an increasingly unstable society—but the challenges he faces are beyond his wildest imagination.

Meanwhile, the enclosed quarters of the nearby government-run refugee camp make for an environment where injury, assault and murder are the norm. As Jess creates trouble within the camp, Sarge and his crew plot to take down the entire establishment.

From the author of the hit Survivalist Series books, Forsaking Home is an action-packed adventure that depicts the harrowing possibilities of a world gone awry, and the courage it takes to protect what matters most.

My Thoughts:

Forsaking Home by A. American is a recommended (highly if you are reading the whole series) conclusion to the survivalist series that includes Going Home, Surviving Home, and Escaping Home.  Forsaking Home is the fourth book in the series.

For those following the series, Morgan, his family, and all the other characters are back on their trek to survival among lawless citizens and the DHS continues their obscenely wicked ways at the refugee/detention camps. The chapters alternate between life at Morgan's camp and the DHS camp/Sarge's group. Morgan's life this time around is comparatively more settled (for an apocalyptic-end-of-the-known-world survivalist novel) and A. American settles into having his characters provide some more survivalist lessons/skills one would need to know in this situation. This book isn't quite as action packed as the earlier installments of the series.

I was pleased to note that binoculars (rather than binos) were used, as well as a monocular and spotting scope. Enough said.

The quality of the writing in this final book of the series (and I'm just speculating here, but it seemed like it had reached a conclusion) has improved dramatically from the first book. Upon reflection, I do think that books three and four could have been edited in such a way that they made one book - especially since book three just ended mid-story. It is nice to finally reach the conclusion with a bit of hope for the future of society. And I still love Morgan's devotion to his family.

This is survival in Florida, or the deep South. Things might be a bit different in your neck of the woods. We could certainly get some cattail rhizomes here, but forget palm anything. Hey, I've hunted the wild asparagus and morel mushrooms. I've made wild plum jelly and eaten wild rose hips, as well as made them into jelly. We wouldn't be catching any gators to eat, though. I guess I sort of wish someone (not me) could just start snaring wild rabbits and squirrels that are eating up my landscaping without having to eat them because of a societal collapse, but I know they are around should the unthinkable happen.  When winter comes, though, things would get dicey.

Going Home, Surviving Home, Escaping Home, and Forsaking Home really should be read in the order they were written to follow the various threads in the plot. Despite the number of pages, they are all easy to read and you can get through them quickly. If you are looking for a summer read full of escapism and enjoy survivalist fiction this series might be a great airplane book choice - except for the EMP or CME in the first book that started the end of civilization.

Disclosure: My paperback edition was courtesy of the Penguin Group for review purposes.

TLC TOUR

The Skeleton Crew

The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America's Coldest Cases 
by Deborah Halber

Simon & Schuster: 7/1/2014
ebook, 304 pages
ISBN-13: 9781451657586
deborahhalber.mit.edu

Solving cold cases from the comfort of your living room…

The Skeleton Crew provides an entree into the gritty and tumultuous world of Sherlock Holmes–wannabes who race to beat out law enforcement—and one another—at matching missing persons with unidentified remains.

In America today, upwards of forty thousand people are dead and unaccounted for. These murder, suicide, and accident victims, separated from their names, are being adopted by the bizarre online world of amateur sleuths.

It’s DIY CSI.

The web sleuths pore over facial reconstructions (a sort of Facebook for the dead) and other online clues as they vie to solve cold cases and tally up personal scorecards of dead bodies. The Skeleton Crew delves into the macabre underside of the Internet, the fleeting nature of identity, and how even the most ordinary citizen with a laptop and a knack for puzzles can reinvent herself as a web sleuth.

My Thoughts:

The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America's Coldest Cases by Deborah Halber is a very highly recommended, fascinating anecdotal look at how amateurs are solving cold cases.

Chances are you know of a cold case, an unsolved murder right in your own city.  Startlingly, according to what Halber discovered, chances are also "good that you or someone you know has at one point stumbled over a dead body. There are shockingly large numbers of them out there. According to the national institute of Justice, America is home to tens of thousands of unidentified human remains, with four thousand more turning up every year: intrepid adventurers or athletes who left their IDs at home; victims of accidents and mass disasters; suicides; undocumented immigrants; the homeless; runaway teenagers; victims of serial killers; and those who cast off a former identity, changed names, and left no forwarding address." Location 159

These cases are often given "mournful monikers" from the communities in which their bodies were found and become known as the "Tent Girl, Somerton man, Princess Doe, Saltair Sally, the Boy in the Box, the Belle in the Well, the Lady Who Danced Herself to Death." I can think of several unsolved cases where I currently live and know of others from various other communities I've lived in over the years. The number of unsolved cases is shocking. It is easy to see why law enforcement officials don't prioritize these unsolved cases when there are so many other crimes that can be solved.

While amateur detectives did try to solve some of these cases over the years, often searching for a missing relative, the age of the internet has dramatically changed their success rate. Now these same amateurs have access to much more information and they often have the time and desire to solve these cold cases. It becomes a rather macabre hobby where members have created online communities based on providing information on the cold cases and virtually compete with each other to try to solve them.

"By 2001, the same unidentified corpses that were once almost universally ignored had evolved into tantalizing clues in a massive, global version of Concentration played around the clock by a hodgepodge of self-styled amateur sleuths, a dedicated skeleton crew that shared a desire to match faces to names—and names to dead bodies. Anybody with an idealistic bent, a lot of time, and a strong stomach could sign on: a stay-at-home mom in New York, a chain store cashier in Mississippi, a nurse in Nebraska, a retired cop and his exotic-dancer girlfriend in Houston." Location 376

Halber actually looks at some of these cold cases and the legends that have sprung up around them. Intertwined in the stories about the cold cases is information about the amateurs who are spending vast amounts of personal time trying to solve them. As these online communities share tips and information on discussion boards like Cold Cases and the Doe Network, they can also get overly competitive and combative with each other. Even so, many law enforcement officials are benefiting from their skills at solving these very cold cases.

Halber writes in a very conversational, anecdotal, personal style that, after glancing at other reviews, I'm guessing you either like or don't like. I happened to enjoy The Skeleton Crew a lot and part of that enjoyment was in Halber's treatment of the topic. I found The Skeleton Crew highly entertaining. She's a great writer and, much like the cold cases she's discussing and her amateurs are trying to solve, sometimes the trail to the solution takes a few meanders before you find the identity of the deceased.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Simon & Schuster for review purposes.

Contents:
Prologue: The Well Driller
The Ultimate Identity Crisis
You Can Disappear Here
It’s the Ethernet, my Dear Watson
Ghost Girls
Bring out Your Dead
Inside Reefer
The Perks of Being Ornery
Seekers of Lost Souls
How to make a John Doe
Finding Bobbie Ann
Quackie is Dead
The Head in the Bucket
The Hippie and the Lawman
The oldest Unsolved Case in Massachusetts
Relief, Sadness, Success
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Endnotes

Critical Damage

Critical Damage by Robert K. Lewis

Midnight Ink; 4/8/2014
Trade Paperback, 312 pages
ISBN-13: 9780738736235
Mark Mallen Series #2
www.robertklewis.com/#!
needlecity.wordpress.com

When ex-cop and recovering junkie Mark Mallen is asked to track down two very different girls who have gone missing, he doesn't think twice about putting himself in harm's way to find them. Bloodied and bruised, Mallen shakes down the pimps and hustlers who could crack the cases wide open, leaving no stone unturned in San Francisco's criminal underground.
But something isn't right. Somebody's trying to scare Mallen off, and it's no ordinary street thug. With heat coming at him from all angles, Mallen's search for the truth leads him to men who will stop at nothing to make sure their twisted desires never see the light of day.

My Thoughts:


Critical Damage by Robert K. Lewis is a highly recommended gritty crime novel that provides nonstop action and frantic pages turns. It is not for the faint of heart; there is plenty of violence. If you are looking for PI novel that features a flawed antihero who operates in the dark, seedy underside of San Fransisco, then the Mark Mallen series will be right up your alley. The series started with Untold Damage and continues with this second book, Critical Damage.
 
Mark Mallen is a former cop and recovering drug addict. He and his friend Gato return in this second book. Two girls are missing and one of them is Gato's sister, Lupe. Lupe is a prostitute, so she may have fallen into trouble due to her own activities, but the other missing girl is the daughter of the mayor. What could these two girls possibly have in common? What Mark discovers is chilling and disgusting - and much bigger and more dangerous than anything Mark has ever tangled with before.
 
Lewis is a good writer who has the ability to deftly capture an action scene, as well as the dialogue, which makes Critical Damage a captivating novel to read. This is definitely not a cozy mystery, though; the subject matter gets down and dirty as the case progresses into the world of pimps, prostitutes and the criminal underworld.
 
It might help to read the first novel, Untold Damage, and then this second novel, Critical Damage. There is definitely a third Mark Mallen novel in the future.


My review copy was courtesy of Robert K. Lewis.


Excerpt

Dollbaby

Dollbaby by Laura Lane McNeal

Pamela Dorman Books
ebook, 352 pages
ISBN-13: 9780670014736

A big-hearted coming-of-age debut set in civil rights-era New Orleans—a novel of Southern eccentricity and secrets
When Ibby Bell’s father dies unexpectedly in the summer of 1964, her mother unceremoniously deposits Ibby with her eccentric grandmother Fannie and throws in her father’s urn for good measure. Fannie’s New Orleans house is like no place Ibby has ever been—and Fannie, who has a tendency to end up in the local asylum—is like no one she has ever met. Fortunately, Fannie’s black cook, Queenie, and her smart-mouthed daughter, Dollbaby, take it upon themselves to initiate Ibby into the ways of the South, both its grand traditions and its darkest secrets.

 
For Fannie’s own family history is fraught with tragedy, hidden behind the closed rooms in her ornate Uptown mansion. It will take Ibby’s arrival to begin to unlock the mysteries there. And it will take Queenie and Dollbaby’s hard-won wisdom to show Ibby that family can sometimes be found in the least expected places.
 
For fans of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and The Help, Dollbaby brings to life the charm and unrest of 1960s New Orleans through the eyes of a young girl learning to understand race for the first time.

By turns uplifting and funny, poignant and full of verve, Dollbaby is a novel readers will take to their hearts.

My Thoughts:

Dollbaby by Laura Lane McNeal is a recommended family saga - maybe highly recommended, at least what I read, but more on that later.

Liberty Bell, known as Ibby, was unceremoniously  dropped off at her grandmother Fannie's house in New Orleans, along with the urn containing her father's ashes, by her mother just a couple weeks after her father died. Having grown up in Olympia, Washington, Ibby is new to the ways of the South. Fannies cook, Queenie, her daughter, Babydoll, are there to help Ibby negotiate her way with her grandmother, who just wants to be called Fannie, as well as Southern society during some years when big transitions are happening.
 

The novel opens in 1964 and then proceeds to the 70's. Obviously these were turbulent times in the country, but especially the South. Fannie has secrets she is hiding too about which Ibby hears hints and insinuations.

From what I read this is a well written novel that does an excellent job establishing character development and the setting. I was enjoying it immensely when my advanced digital reading copy, provided courtesy of the Penguin First to Read Program, expired today, July 3. I was planning to finish the book and post the review today. I understand that Penguin wanted reviews done in a timely manner, but this "by July third" apparently meant before July third because that was when your digital copy would no longer be available. It's difficult to give an accurate rating on a book that I haven't read the ending of due to the publisher's ill-conceived rule.

On a personal note:

I always schedule reviews for review books I receive. I also make a note when I downloaded the book (or received it), when it will be published, who sent the copy, as well as a few other notes. Dollbaby was a late comer as far as being reviewed before July 3rd, but I was trying to squeeze it in, something I may not consider doing again. I can have review books scheduled 6 months in advance. I always review the books I receive and do it on a first come first serve basis, as far as specific publication dates. 
This year has been a heck-of-a-year for me with the death of two close family members less than 2 months apart, as well as a second part time job. It's really amazing I have kept pretty close to my scheduled reviews considering all the emotional upheaval in my life. I may be reluctant to accept another review copy where the publisher has placed intrusive DRM (digital rights management) on the review copy they provide.

How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer
St. Martin's Press: 7/1/2014
ebook, 352 pages
ISBN-13: 9781250047021
lydianetzer.blogspot.com

 Lydia Netzer, the award-winning author of Shine Shine Shine, weaves a mind-bending, heart-shattering love story that asks, “Can true love exist if it’s been planned from birth?”

Like a jewel shimmering in a Midwest skyline, the Toledo Institute of Astronomy is the nation's premier center of astronomical discovery and a beacon of scientific learning for astronomers far and wide. Here, dreamy cosmologist George Dermont mines the stars to prove the existence of God. Here, Irene Sparks, an unsentimental scientist, creates black holes in captivity.

George and Irene are on a collision course with love, destiny and fate. They have everything in common: both are ambitious, both passionate about science, both lonely and yearning for connection. The air seems to hum when they’re together. But George and Irene’s attraction was not written in the stars. In fact their mothers, friends since childhood, raised them separately to become each other's soulmates.

When that long-secret plan triggers unintended consequences, the two astronomers must discover the truth about their destinies, and unravel the mystery of what Toledo holds for them—together or, perhaps, apart.

Lydia Netzer combines a gift for character and big-hearted storytelling, with a sure hand for science and a vision of a city transformed by its unique celestial position, exploring the conflicts of fate and determinism, and asking how much of life is under our control and what is pre-ordained in the heavens.

My Thoughts:  

How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer is a very highly recommended buddy-novel-cum-romance-cum-dysfunctional-family story about cosmology, astronomy, and astrology. Yes, it is all that and more.

In Pittsburg astrophysicist Irene Sparks has made a research discovery that will define her career. At the same time her research project shows results, her estranged mother Bernice, an alcoholic who worked as a psychic, has a fatal fall at her home in Toledo.  Sparks' ground breaking discovery has allowed her to accept her dream position at the Toledo Institute of Astronomy, while concurrently dealing with her mother's demise. She is leaving her boyfriend, Belion, behind, but he soon calls and says he is coming to Toledo too.

Already at the Toledo Institute of Astronomy is George Dermont, an astrophysicist who just happens to be trying to prove that a gateway to the gods exists. Unknown to all but his father, George actually sees some of these gods in his daily life and has for years. George has always felt that he is missing someone, someone who was there but then left. He's also on the prowl for any female astronomer with brown hair who also happens to be a dreamer. A Psychic once told him that would describe the woman with whom he would fall in love. When he sees Irene for the first time he knows she is the one, the one he has been missing for years.

Unknown to either Irene or George is the fact that their mothers used to be very good friends and had planned from their conception that their children would be soul mates - that they were destined for each other. But currently neither George nor Irene has a clue that their mothers ever knew each other, let alone had a plan for their future - together.

This is a wonderfully quirky, mind-bending, eccentric story. I'll fully admit that I thought I had the plot all figured out very early on, and as one prediction after another came to be true, I was feeling a little smug, and a little let-down, that is until Netzer threw in some zingers and surprised me. This is not a run-of-the-mill love story. It is an original blend of science, mythology, fate, predetermination, psychics, gaming, family history, dream-control, and romance.  It is totally original and unique.

Netzer's writing ability has to be a major part of the success that she can pull off such an unusual story and have it work so well. The characters were wonderfully realized, totally formed individuals that are certainly unique. The plot is a creative blend of what an astute reader might guess is going to happen along with some real surprises that I'll venture no one would predict.

I love Netzer's Shine, Shine, Shine and was a bit worried that How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky wouldn't live up to her first novel. It was a crazy concern with no basis in fact. This is an excellent novel that stands on its own and need no comparison to her first novel. In fact, I had an audio copy of Shine, Shine, Shine  and loved it, but after reading Netzer I'm planning to go back and read it so I can savor her written words. She has a brilliant way of expressing herself and I think I need to see her written words.

Now, while I adored this novel I can see where some people might have a problem with its mix of psychics, and sex, and science, so keep that in mind.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via Netgalley for review purposes.