My first disappointment from Lee Child. I was expecting more of a suspense and action-filled thriller, but this one kinda bored me up to two-thirds into the book. Once he got the action moving it was fine, but he spent entirely too much time setting it up. Also, I did not like the female protagonist. Reacher is hitchhiking and surprisingly gets a ride from a young woman. It turns out she is looking for a man of his type, and asks him to help her solve her problem of an abusive husband, who is soon to be released from prison. Reluctantly Reacher comes to believe her and decides to pretend to get a job on her in-laws' ranch to keep an eye on her and protect her if necessary. Of course it turns out to be much more complicated than that, and of course Reacher eventually becomes a target for a killer. The ending was wrapped up in a most satisfactory way, enough to make up for the slow start, but this is so far my least favorite of the series.

At first I wondered how Child would take Reacher through the next book, with the relationship with Jodie tying him down, but I needn't have worried - once again Child manages to take us on a rip-roaring thrill ride with an unexpected sucker punch at the end that I have to admit I didn't see coming. We start out with a classic serial killer investigation that our reluctant hero is dragged into, and though I did suspect what the killer was doing almost from the beginning, the identity of the murderer took me by surprise. I was a little skeptical about the gimmick used for the murders but in the end, the reader just has to go along for the ride, and an enjoyable one it is.

At long last, after years of waiting, day 2 of the Kingkiller Chronicles! And it is worth the wait. Rothfuss continues the saga of Kvothe the legend, discovered by a Chronicler living the simple life of an innkeeper. We go through Kvothe's second year in the University, and follow him as he takes a sabbatical after getting into trouble again. Some people may complain about the lack of action and slow-moving plot, but for me the main attraction is the development of Kvothe himself, and if you look at this as an epic coming-of-age story it is enthralling. My only complaint is that the interlude in the land of the Fae with Felurian is just too long, and the lack of information given to the reader about the Chandrian. Still, I flew through the 994 pages and still want more. I just hope he won't take years to finish book 3.

Allie and Zayvion have only spent a few days recovering from near death in the previous book, when an attempt is made on their lives from an unexpected quarter - the bodyguard of their missing leader Sedra. After a narrow escape, Allie and Zayvion are determined to question a prisoner in the Authority's high security prison, and things go wrong when they discover he is possessed by the long-dead legend Leander and manages to escape. Monk ups the ante in this sixth installment with the introduction of Leander, and throws in a nice twist in the end of another action-packed adventure. While I find myself getting tired of Allie and Zay occasionally, the development of the characters of Shamus and Terrion more than makes up for that. Though this series won't find a place on my keeper shelf, the author continues to hold my attention and pique my curiosity enough to keep reading.

A fairly entertaining novella set in the early timeline of the Pern series. A passing ship answers a distress call sent out years earlier by Pern settlers when they first encountered Thread. McCaffrey's characters are her usual black-and-white types, but fans of the series will nevertheless be entertained. I could even wish for the story to be longer.

Gin Blanco, the assassin known as the Spider, is at war with the evil and powerful Fire Elemental Mab Munroe, who is a political power in Ashland. In this fourth book of the series, Mab hires the assassin known as LaFleur to kill the Spider. Not only that, Mab is out to kill Gin's baby sister, Detective Bria Coolidge, as well. Of course it's a complication that not only is Bria unaware of who Gin is, but she is also determined to arrest the person that has been killing Mab's people. Estep continues to hold this series together despite the many cliches and elements that border on cheesy, as she develops her characters well enough to keep me entertained.

This started out a little slow, and the language and pace almost made me give up on it. But about halfway through the book the pace picked up, and the end elevated my rating to 3.5 stars. Elijah is the first freeborn child in the town of Buxton in Canada, a community of former slaves. It is a beacon to all escaping slavery in America. Great coming of age book and fascinating characters, with an ending to stab you in the heart in typical Curtis style. His books should be required reading for middle school.

William Monk has finally caught Jericho Phillips, a child pornographer who had eluded his former captain for years. But things go sour when Oliver Rathbone, hired to defend Phillips by an anonymous patron, manages to get him acquitted for lack of solid evidence. Monk is determined to dig deeper into the case to nail him once and for all, but is disturbed to find that his deceased former captain may not have been the upright man he thought him to be. Even worse, it appears Phillips's powerful benefactor, or perhaps blackmail victim, seems to be working against him by tarnishing his reputation when Monk refuses to back down, and the River Police may be disbanded as a consequence. Perry once again weaves a taut, compelling tale as she takes the reader through the dark depths of depravity in Victorian England.

Child's third Jack Reacher thriller has me firmly hooked as a fan. Reacher is in Florida digging swimming pools for a living when a private investigator comes looking for him. Not willing to get involved, he denies his identity, then is stricken by a guilty conscience when the PI is found dead shortly afterward. Determined to find out what the dead man's employer wants with him, Reacher finds himself tangled in an investigation started by his former army commanding officer, in search of an MIA soldier presumed dead. Of course he soon finds himself a target. This third book of the series is just as convoluted and action-packed as the first two, and Jack Reacher happily shows no signs of slowing down.

A nice anthology with the theme of ghosts and the "other side". An excellent Eve Dallas short touches on the supernatural as Eve is possessed by the spirit of a murdered woman - I was skeptical about this at first, but Robb makes it work. As usual, the other stories can't hold a candle to Robb's, but at least there were no dogs in this collection - even though they bordered on cheesy, they were at least kinda fun.

Loved this book! When the old, long-boarded-up Panama Hotel in Seattle was re-opened by its new owners in 1986, they discovered in the basement the belongings of several Japanese families who were interned there during World War II. This historical event was used as the basis for this fictional story of Chinese-American Henry Lee, and his childhood friendship with Japanese-American Keiko Okabe. Moving back and forth between the present and the past, we see through Henry's eyes the difficulties faced by the Japanese who were treated like criminals during the war, as well as Henry's divided loyalties between his fiercely nationalist and anti-Japanese father and his growing love for his best friend. It also delves into the generational and cultural divide between Henry and his father as well as Henry and his son, and the side story of Henry's friendship with a black saxophone player gives an interesting glimpse into the jazz music of that time. A sweet, touching, and thought-provoking coming-of-age story, Ford keeps the reader engaged despite the slightly cliched romantic ending.

I'm slowly losing my enthusiasm for Sookie and her adventures. Not sure if it is the True Blood series that is affecting my enjoyment of the books, but it feels more like Harris is slipping a little. I'm glad she has (kind of) closed the door on the fairy aspect of the series, as it was getting tedious, but the political intrigue among the vampires is also getting old, and the politics of the weres' coming out doesn't do anything for me. The appearance of Eric's maker with his insane child Alexei Romanov was interesting, Claude's character is also becoming more intriguing, and Bill's relationship with Sookie settling nicely to a more comfortable friendship, but overall this book was a little slow paced. Still, Harris manages to keep it going and I intend to continue reading the series, even though the last few books have not really excited me.

Another solid fantasy by Briggs. Aren has the gift of Sight, but it does not help stave off tragedy when raiders suddenly attack her village and kill her family. Strange things are happening all over the land, and magical creatures are stirring. In order to defeat the raiders and save the village, Aren has to make a bargain with the creature called The Hob, the last of his kind - a bargain that she has to pay for herself. As usual, it is the characters that make Briggs' stories, and these characters draw you in and hold your attention throughout the book.

I have been enjoying Doss' books so much that when this started out I was eager, then slowly started getting confused, and finally felt disappointed. Not because of the mystery, which was ok. It was intriguingly convoluted, with enough drama to keep the reader engaged in the events of the lives of the title characters - Cassandra, a psychic with a TV show who while live on camera has a vision of a murder taking place miles away as it is happening; the newly married Astrid, who is talking to her husband on the phone when he suddenly hears her scream as she is attacked by a wild animal; and the pretty Beatrice, who marries her widowed brother-in-law way too soon after her sister's death. But Doss (if it is him) changed his writing style from subtle to overdone with his asides, which become intrusive in their sledgehammer comedy especially when compared with the nuances of his previous books. It really feels like a different author. If I had read this book first, I would probably not have minded the style and even enjoyed it. But having established his characters over several books, the changes in them are jarring. If it is the same author and not a ghost writer, it's almost like he got bored or so pleased with himself in his success that he raised the stakes by putting more of himself in as the omniscient narrator, and having fun with his characters by manipulating them like puppets in a comedy. He's in danger of losing me as a fan.

It's always a treat to be back with Dallas and Rourke. This time there is no doubt who the murderers are, and we just sit back and ride with Eve as she sets out to prove that two rich, well-bred men are murdering for sport. This story is not about the solving of a murder but the warped psychology behind twisted minds. It also scores with lots of emotional impact as we get a peek into the deepening relationship between Eve and Rourke as they visit his family in Ireland. The minor players are all there in the background as usual, not quite as prominent as they have been before, but that's fine as this installment is more about our heroine and hero, and they are still going strong.

Shaman Daisy Perika has been having terrible dreams about Sarah Frank, but her nephew Charlie Moon dismisses them until the fourteen-year-old girl is suspected of murder in Utah and disappears. Though out of his jurisdiction, Charlie and his FBI agent friend Lila Mae McTeague follow the case closely and do some digging on their own. But it soon becomes apparent that it's not just the law that is after Sarah.

Some reviewers have complained about Doss' penchant for hiding details from the reader, and he usually is clever enough with this words that I just go along with it even when I know he is setting me up. But he really went all out - you might even say overboard - with this story, deliberately twisting the scenes in order to spring his surprise at the end. This installment is darker than his usual fare, more gruesome even as he tries to lighten it with the expected repartee between the characters. Still, once I just let him lead me along, I enjoyed the ride, and he even managed to surprise me a little at the end.

A lady is shot dead at a restaurant, and orthodontist Dr. Manfred Wilhelm Blinkoe comes forward, insisting the shot was meant for him. It soon becomes apparent to the reader, even if not to police chief Scott Parris, that someone is after Blinkoe, especially when Aunt Daisy unknowingly tips off the villain and her trailer is blown up. Then Blinkoe's boat goes up in flames and his pretty young wife goes missing, and the FBI reluctantly reveals their interest in him. Charlie Moon and Scott Parris are off on the hunt once again, and Aunt Daisy and her dotty friend Louise add some comic relief to the mix in another entertaining addition to the series.

Mysterious goings-on in the canyons, a crazy Apache who thinks he can fly and attacks a police officer, a museum robbery, romance and heartbreak and more romance are all on Charlie Moon's plate. Doss creates a spaghetti tangle for the reader that his humor makes all the more fun to unravel, and his characters, particularly the shaman Aunt Daisy, just make the trip worthwhile.

Charlie Moon, formerly acting Ute tribal police chief, is now a rancher and part-time investigator. This time he is called upon to investigate the killing of Billy Smoke, in whose assault his employer Senator Patch Davidson was permanently crippled. His shaman Aunt Daisy insists on him looking into the case of a missing girl who seems to be haunting her. Is there a traitor in the senator's employ selling national secrets, or is the senator himself involved?

Doss' series takes on a more serious turn in this book, and the otherworldly is brought more to the fore in Daisy's visions, but the humor is still there to lighten the mood and he provides a nice twist in the end to give a satisfying read.

Little Sarah Frank steps on a spider and shaman Daisy Perika scolds her, "Grandmother Spider will get her revenge!" And sure enough, just a few minutes later they see a strange creature carrying a screaming Tommy Tonompicket through the night. The next day Tommy and a white man he had been drinking with are missing and wild stories are on the news. Daisy's nephew and acting tribal police chief Charlie Moon, who doesn't believe in the supernatural, is sure there is a rational explanation for this, but even he is stumped, particularly when a gruesomely decapitated corpse is discovered. Then Tommy and his erstwhile companion are found barely alive with their memories gone.

If Doss injected sly humor in his previous books, he decided to up the ante and outright have fun in this one. The mystery is outrageous but he somehow makes it all come together in the end in this thoroughly entertaining tale.