Endangered by C.J. Box My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews I’d never heard of C.J. Box, author of “Endangered (A Joe Pickett Novel)” (Putnam 2015) when this book appeared in my Amazon Vine list. I picked the book because it got good reviews and is the fifteenth in the Joe Pickett … Continue reading
Gray Retribution by Alan McDermott My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews Gray Retribution: A Tom Gray Novel Book 4 (Thomas Mercer 2014) by Alan McDermott is the fourth in the Tom Gray series, about an ex-SAS warrior who’s created a career out of teaching vulnerable countries to defend themselves against attacks. … Continue reading
The Forgers by Bradford Morrow My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews Bradford Morrow’s “The Forgers“ was a bit of a leap for me. I don’t read a lot of literary fiction because it usually includes long-winding sentences that preach about important subjects that I may not be important to me. But … Continue reading
The Kill Order by Robin Burcell My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my book reviews Robin Burcell’s The Kill Order (Sidney Fitzpatrick–Harper 2015) is the fifth in the FBI Special Agent Sydney and forensic artist Fitzpatrick series (the second series created by Burcell). Sydney becomes embroiled with a powerful computer code called the … Continue reading
A Dark Mind by T.R. Ragan My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews T. R. Ragan’s “Dark Mind” (Thomas Mercer 2014), #3 in the Lizzy Gardner series, is a look inside the mind of a demented, sick killer who revels in bringing pain to the happiest of people. Called the Lovebird Killer … Continue reading
I stumbled across Rebecca Bradley’s crime writing blog at some point in the past, I don’t remember when, but it quickly became apparent she was a kindred crime/mystery/thriller spirit. Her blog contains lots of tips on writing, her personal reflections, and interviews with a wide variety of mystery/crime authors whose books now fill my Kindle … Continue reading
Martha Alderson’s Blockbuster Plots: Pure and Simple (Illusion Press 2004) presents step-by-step strategies to build your story, maximize the impact of scenes and provide depth to the plot. She focuses not on the ordinary plot, but the one that will push you to the top of the pile, make your book a must-read among all … Continue reading
Long Way Down by Michael Sears My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews Michael Sears “Long Way Down (A Jason Stafford Novel)” (GP Putman 2014), third in the Jason Stafford series, is a gripping story of Jason Stafford, a Wall Street trader who goes to jail for insider trading and comes out … Continue reading
There are two parts to this post: my top ten favorite books that I read in 2014 your (as reader) top ten favorite book reviews I wrote in 2014 My Top Ten Favorite Books I read 156 books according to my Goodreads list. I love reading and would prefer to do that than watch TV, … Continue reading
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know you’ve done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer’s tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make … Continue reading
