FIELD OF FIRE (Thriller-Alex Duarte-US-Cont) - 1st in series - James O. Born LJ - DNF - If you like noir, this may be for you but it was just not the book for me. I didn’t care about the characters, which is always the kiss of death. The violence against innocent people was the clincher. After 79 pages, I decided it was time to move on to another book. Nancy - G - There were a lot of chases and explosions. The author did too much telling and not enough showing and seems to love C4 and explosives. There was very little sense of place. Nancy didn't care for the protagonist. She didn't dislike the book, but might not read another by this author.
MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH (Historical-Adelia Aguilar-England-1170) - 1st in series - Ariana Franklin LJ - Ex - I am about to gush! This book was judged the best researched of its year by the BBC and historian Dr. David Starkey. Happily, it is not written in Middle English and, as the author admits, some liberties were taken. Others more versed in this time than am I, may be able to find historic fault with it. I don’t care. I found the history fascinating and learned even more about life in this period. The style of writing was wonderful; from that first three-word sentence, I was entranced. I loved the characters; Adelia, Simon, Mansur, Ulf, Gyltha, Prior Geoffrey, Henry II (whose voice I shall always hear as Peter O’Toole’s) were real to me and others became so as the story progressed. The language was a bit challenging at first, but soon became easy to read. The sights, sounds and smells of the town were described to place me within the story. The story kept me involved from beginning to end and tapped all my emotions. There is a wonderful romance which arises to warm the heart and quicken the pulse. I laughed, cried; was moved, frightened and appalled and I can’t wait until the next book comes out next May. What can I say; I loved it.
SUMMER OF THE BIG BACHI (Mystery-Mas Arai-Pasadena, CA-Cont) - 1st in series - Naomi Hirahara Charlotte - - She has just started it and finds it slow to get into the story. Libby - - Has also just begun the book. The fact that it is about Japanese gardners has drawn her in as her family had Japanese gardners when she was growing up. It seems quite well written. Linda - G- - The characters are the strength of the book. The plot turned way too much on coincidence and is overly complicated. The author's politics overtake her art a bit. LJ - DNF - I usually enjoy books about other cultures and I know people have raved about this book, but I lacked the patience to get into it. I found the Japanese dialect and phrases, although appropriate, difficult to get past. I was not captivated by the character of Mas and found him depressing. It made it past my 50-page rule, but not by much. Nancy - G+ - She read all three book in the series and liked the sequels better than this one. the Plot was complicated, but she liked the setting. The character really grew on her, though, through the three books. In this book, the character gets a bit lost among the other characters.
LJ - DNF - If you like noir, this may be for you but it was just not the book for me. I didn’t care about the characters, which is always the kiss of death. The violence against innocent people was the clincher. After 79 pages, I decided it was time to move on to another book.
Nancy - G - There were a lot of chases and explosions. The author did too much telling and not enough showing and seems to love C4 and explosives. There was very little sense of place. Nancy didn't care for the protagonist. She didn't dislike the book, but might not read another by this author.
MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH
(Historical-Adelia Aguilar-England-1170) - 1st in series - Ariana Franklin
LJ - Ex - I am about to gush! This book was judged the best researched of its year by the BBC and historian Dr. David Starkey. Happily, it is not written in Middle English and, as the author admits, some liberties were taken. Others more versed in this time than am I, may be able to find historic fault with it. I don’t care. I found the history fascinating and learned even more about life in this period. The style of writing was wonderful; from that first three-word sentence, I was entranced. I loved the characters; Adelia, Simon, Mansur, Ulf, Gyltha, Prior Geoffrey, Henry II (whose voice I shall always hear as Peter O’Toole’s) were real to me and others became so as the story progressed. The language was a bit challenging at first, but soon became easy to read. The sights, sounds and smells of the town were described to place me within the story. The story kept me involved from beginning to end and tapped all my emotions. There is a wonderful romance which arises to warm the heart and quicken the pulse. I laughed, cried; was moved, frightened and appalled and I can’t wait until the next book comes out next May. What can I say; I loved it.
SUMMER OF THE BIG BACHI (Mystery-Mas Arai-Pasadena, CA-Cont) - 1st in series - Naomi Hirahara
Charlotte - - She has just started it and finds it slow to get into the story.
Libby - - Has also just begun the book. The fact that it is about Japanese gardners has drawn her in as her family had Japanese gardners when she was growing up. It seems quite well written.
Linda - G- - The characters are the strength of the book. The plot turned way too much on coincidence and is overly complicated. The author's politics overtake her art a bit.
LJ - DNF - I usually enjoy books about other cultures and I know people have raved about this book, but I lacked the patience to get into it. I found the Japanese dialect and phrases, although appropriate, difficult to get past. I was not captivated by the character of Mas and found him depressing. It made it past my 50-page rule, but not by much.
Nancy - G+ - She read all three book in the series and liked the sequels better than this one. the Plot was complicated, but she liked the setting. The character really grew on her, though, through the three books. In this book, the character gets a bit lost among the other characters.