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An epic story of self-discovery and Love and War. Guys don't be frightened away thinking it's only for teens or girls, there is plenty of a
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An epic story of self-discovery and Love and War. Guys don't be frightened away thinking it's only for teens or girls, there is plenty of action and adventure. It's a page-turner with wonderful dark, mysterious and glorious characters. Karou is the main protagonist that you will love more and more as the story unfolds and you will become in awe of her. She is a seventeen year old art student in Prague and also an errand girl to an inhuman creature Brimstone, who is the closest thing to family to her. A girl of beauty with long azure hair and the eyes of a silent-movie star, she moved like a poem and smiled like a sphinx. Brimstone her guardian, who raised Karou from birth, is a trader of teeth for magic beads. To give you an idea of the characters in this story and the breed called the Chimera, i will describe to you Brimstone's appearance. His arms and massive torso are human, he has clawed feet of a Raptor or Lizard and a head of a Ram. A flat ovine nose and reptilian eyes and giant yellow ram horns spiraled on either side of his face. Karou travels to Brimstone and his shop via portals and when she leaves she can transport to any town needed from exotic places like Morocco to urban cities as Paris. There are many questions Karou wants answered but one by one the answers descend upon her in rapid succession and her very status changes dramatically. She find herself in clash with another kind of species. He was not human and not from her world and yet something tied them together with the power to conduct her blood and breath like a symphony so that anything she did to fight against, it felt like discord, like disharmony with herself. Amongst this emotion she needs answers, who exactly were the Chimera, and where had they came from? Where there more of them? And what about her. Who were her parents, and how had she fallen into Brimstone's care? Was there another life she was meant to be living? At times she felt a keen certainty that there was a phantom life, haunting her from just out of reach. There is also another set of questions that keep you gripped right through the story The Teeth, what the hell are they for? You will find wonderful story telling and exotic settings that will stay in your mind for some time. http://more2read.com/?review=daughter-of-smoke-and-bone-by-laini-taylor
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This story dishes up a dose of the darkness of the heart and one of the best doses of retribution in a while. A young woman who wants to break out froThis story dishes up a dose of the darkness of the heart and one of the best doses of retribution in a while. A young woman who wants to break out from her low pay mundane job of waiting tables in a local cafe has the best ticket out of town grabbed literally away from her and finds herself in a stomach curling compromising position. Jason writes a dark tale well and has had good success with these tales in the likes of On Gathering Storm and Shed. He puts you into the thick of it and describes it all so well that you feel the pain and suffering alongside the characters. Some of the stories he write do go to some violent extremes in behavior but they are oh so very true goings on in this day and age. One luxury he has being self-published is that he can go as brutal as he wants in the writing without the cleaning up and cutting from publishers. This story like so many of his is one that with linger in the back of you’re mind for a while, it’s not all bleak tho there is some saving grace. A novella that packs a punch. http://more2read.com/?review=bled-a-dovetail-cove-novella-by-jason-mcintyre...more
Book Description Rigus is the greatest city in the Thirteen Lands, a glittering metropolis of crystalline citadels and sumptuous manors, where the gen Book Description Rigus is the greatest city in the Thirteen Lands, a glittering metropolis of crystalline citadels and sumptuous manors, where the gentlewomen hide delicate smiles behind silken sleeves and bored nobles settle affairs of honour with cold steel. But light casts shadow, and in the darkness of the spires the baseborn struggle, eeking out an existence amidst the cast-offs of their betters. This is Low Town, a sprawling warren of side streets and back alleys, of boarded up windows and false storefronts. Here the corner boys do a steady trade to the dead-eyed and despairing, and a life can be bought with a clipped copper penny.
Low Town is an ugly place, and its champion is an ugly man. A former war hero and intelligence agent, now a crime lord addicted to cheap violence and expensive narcotics, the Warden spends his days hustling for customers and protecting turf, until the chance discovery of a murdered child sets him on a collision course with the life he'd left behind. As bodies bloat in the canal and winter buries the city, he plays a desperate game of deception, pitting the underworld powers against his former colleagues in the secret police, hoping to find the source of the evil before it consumes him, and perhaps the city itself. In the tradition of Daniel Hammett and Gene Wolfe comes LOW TOWN THE STRAIGHT RAZOR CURE, a novel about the taint of blood and the impossibility of redemption. Bold, brilliant writing makes this a debut that will change the fantasy world landscape.
My Review This is a story where Fantasy fans can get a taste of a hard boiled PI sort of character, with a good blend of dystopia and detective work in Low Town. The main protagonist is a Gritty been there and got the shirt detective Ex Low Town Government Special Services operative. He's now a man people fear on the streets, and is hired by the powers that be to find a murderer. The story is a straight forward search for killer story blended with a different setting, new rules and some new kind of characters to the long existing detective genre. I am not head over heels in joy was an ok story, the author does present some skilled writing here. http://more2read.com/?review=low-town-the-straight-razor-cure-by-daniel-polansky...more
It has been a long time since I have read a book from the Charlie Parker PI series. I used to really love Connolly's books with Parker as the main proIt has been a long time since I have read a book from the Charlie Parker PI series. I used to really love Connolly's books with Parker as the main protagonist I have read the first four on successive release dates then i drifted away while waiting the next title to be released. Over time like, many books that are part of a series by authors, that dark excellence lost it's edge a bit. In this novel you have Charlie revisiting the memories of his Child's death and all that comes with those feelings, another murder has re-earthed as a 14 year old girl goes missing. Writing about missing children is a ground covered well in the past and written about so frequently I feel it's a hard story to write about, you need to really work hard at making it an immersing story that grips the reader. This story had elements in it that wanted you to keep turning but as time progressed it missed that something that I could say really confidently that i definitely liked it which gets four stars. If it wasn't for Connolly nice words he put together in parts of this story I would have struggled to give it four. It is a cerebral story, that is not the best of Charlie Parker's cases I loved so much his first few books Every Dead Thing, Dark Hollow and The Killing Kind. When you read the excerpts you can see how well he can write. http://more2read.com/?review=the-burning-soul-charlie-parker-10-by-john-connolly "Every fall brought the same realization: this was the best of it until March, perhaps even April. As bad as this was, with sodden leaves, and cold drizzle, and darkness in the mornings and darkness in the evenings, the winter would be so much worse. Oh, there would be moments of beauty, as when the sunlight scattered the first snows with gems, and the world in those early daylight hours would seem cleansed of it's ugliness, purged of it's sins, but then the filth would accrue, and the snow would blacken, and there would be grit in the soles of her shoes, and on the floor of her car, and traipsed through her house, and she would wish herself to be one of those huddled sleeping creatures that find a warm, dark cave or the hollow of a tree trunk, there to wait out the winter months."
"I had witnessed the blurring of worlds, watching as elements of what once was, and what was to come, seeped into this life like dark ink through water. I knew of the existence of a form of evil that wad beyond human capacities, the wellspring from which all other evil sipped. And I knew that I was marked, although to what end I did not yet understand. So I had kept my distance from my child, for fear of what I might draw upon her."
"I might have begun by arguing that when one encounters enough strangeness, what is strange ultimately becomes familiar. The mind can accommodate itself to almost anything, given time: pain, grief, loss, even the possibility that the dead talk to the living. And I understood, too, that this was all part of a larger pattern, a signpost on a journey whose ultimate destination I could not know. I had resigned myself to what was to come, whatever it might be, and that resignation brought with it a kind of peace. So I slept, and I was grateful for sleep. When I could no longer sleep, then I would know that I was going mad."...more
It is two weeks surrounding the Easter holidays the slowest time of the year on the nation's turnpikes, and the afternoon is the second-slowest time oIt is two weeks surrounding the Easter holidays the slowest time of the year on the nation's turnpikes, and the afternoon is the second-slowest time of the day, the hours between midnight and 5 am is the slowest time. One abandoned service stop on Mile 81 is about to receive some helpful traffic. We have all driven on the rapid fast lane but time and tiredness takes it toll on our souls and a long overdue rest is always advised but where? After reading this you may think twice on exactly where you stop. When out there in your motor vehicle you see desperate souls looking like they are stranded its best to leave it to the Breakdown services or the Police, for might not be what it seems and you don't want to get caught up in a Venus fly trap of a point of no return stop. The skill of the Masterful writer Stephen King is he uses everyday people and everyday objects and throws them into mayhem and macabre he creates stories of gore and horror with themes of survival and triumph. This story flowed by fast and was put together in a good fashion which became a enjoyable short read. http://more2read.com/?review=mile-81-by-stephen-king...more
"Rule Number one: No killing innocent bystanders. The large majority of this world does not know that this war is raging on beneath their noses. Those"Rule Number one: No killing innocent bystanders. The large majority of this world does not know that this war is raging on beneath their noses. Those people are to be protected at all costs. No collateral damage. The penalty for killing an innocent bystander is death."
"Rule number two: No killing anyone under the age of eighteen no matter what side they're on. Until you turn eighteen you're considered an innocent bystander."
The contenders are grouped in three groups. The first are the soldiers they are at the front line in the war, they go out and kill the enemy. The second group are the Intelligence people the Intel group they are mixed of many specialists computer experts to military planners to name a few. They provide information on the kill and get all the intel needed prepared. The third group called the deep cover guys, their job is to assimilate into society lay low and have family lives as normal as possible. They are the breeders providing the new participants in this war. The business of this war is real and the protagonist is faced with death as an everyday part of his life if you fail to kill you're target you have been assigned you would face being killed, if you make a mistake and kill innocents you will be killed. He finds himself looking for answers to questions as time progresses, how can we stop this war? We kill due to our family being killed by the enemy, they are evil and we are good an ever increasing cycle of murder just when will it stop? and who killed first and started this war? After reading the story there are few things still not answered but when the protagonist finds himself a love interest he starts to see things with a whole different perspective and finds himself protecting and looking to the future of his own newly acquired loved ones. A family with kids would something he could want all this killing could prove to be a dangerous future them. Will he have a family and get out of the secret war? Most mobsters and hit men will tell you that when you have strings attached, loved ones, partners and kids it becomes a problem you have a weak spot, you don't need something that you're enemy could get at and hurt. Children of paranoia is a catchy title, the plot is interesting and different written mostly from a first person narrative. An assassin's story of sorts, staking out the Mark to kill and the process of the kill can all makes gripping reading. I found at times I needed a little plot twist here and there or just a bit more thrill, that could be just me due to reading one too many thrillers. Don't expect masterful writing on a literary scale as this story is not written in that style. All in all it was an entertaining read that had a good concept going. http://more2read.com/?review=children-of-paranoia-children-of-paranoia-1-by-trevor-shane...more
Within these pages you will find a complex cerebral thriller. A thriller post 9/11 and a government where agents hunt down and kill those that plot toWithin these pages you will find a complex cerebral thriller. A thriller post 9/11 and a government where agents hunt down and kill those that plot to unbalance the peace. A world of espionage, secrets and cover ups. Don't expect a visceral thriller, from the title and book cover I was expecting more of a cinematic kind of thriller instead it turned out to be a thinking mans tale of truth and power. You have a couple of searches for truth here, one a dead brother in the army and secondly a diplomat while is in the midst of deals with a foreign enemy, his maid has been the recipient of some abuse. It is a long haul to read and at times wanted a bit more accelerated pace, in the end I would say I found it was crafted together quite cleverly.http://more2read.com/?review=the-revisionists-by-thomas-mullen...more
Dead son and a dead daughter. Father and son, Father and daughter all have a dark past and all weigh up in the play of good and evil.
Suicide is tragic and a last call out of turmoil and distress, it’s a sin even Scudder knows that otherwise he himself confesses to contemplating taking that road. Scudder ex-cop turned Private Investigator was on the force for almost sixteen years divorced with kids, he works as infrequently as he can for now and in no need for money, he has a cheap room and lives on modest day to day expenses. Scudder takes on a case and is investigating the death of a girl and the suicide of her caught killer. He needs to question prostitutes, a priest and a step-father.
With all this talk and investigation on father and child relationships by the time the case is closed he finds himself wanting to rekindle his relationship with his boys. You find a real connection in this story with Matthew Scudder and find he’s a real character of today that’s dealing with a real world of good and evil. You will want to be there with him in the future novels after reading this one, battling through the rough and enjoying the smooth. Lawrence Block writes with a crisp narrative no words wasted takes you straight to the case on the opening pages and really writes the plot to the point. The story is thoroughly engaging and so spot on it reminds me a bit of James M Cain’s writing. This story flows well and will find you are on the final pages in no time at all. This was a re-read for me a masterful start of a great Matthew Scudder series. He quotes in the novel “ I said, “ I lost the faith.” “Like a priest?” “Something like that. Not exactly, because it’s not rare for a cop to lose the faith and go on being a cop. He may never have had it in the first place. What it amounted to was that I found out I didn’t want to be a cop anymore.” Or a husband, or a father. Or a productive member of society.
The reason for his quitting as a cop was due to an incident where he was off-duty one night and found himself stopping an armed robbery. One of his gunshots went wide and ricocheted and hit a seven-year old girl in the eye she died instantly. The death of that girl Estrellita Rivera changed his life forever and the cause of one too many sleepless nights and probably the need for his Bourbon drinking.
In Stephen King’s introduction of this novel he writes at length his love of Block’s novels here mention one quote. “Accessibility is only one of Lawrence Block’s virtues as a writer, but it is surely his greatest gift. His novels-better than two dozen of them at this writing-combine clarity, simplicity, honesty, and vividness to create nearly seamless entertainments.” http://more2read.com/?review=the-sins-of-the-fathers-matthew-scudder-1-by-lawrence-block
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