Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado ( Antonio Scott #1)

Reina roja by Juan Gómez-Jurado
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance eBook. This is not a paid review.
What can I say. This. Book. Was. Awesome! I read the soon to be released English language version known as Red Queen.
Great writing if the English translation was accurate to the author's intent. Antonia Scott is the next great thriller character. My only regret is that I don't read Spanish! Waiting for the sequels is going to be a long, hard wait.
Antonia Scott is part Lisbeth Salander and actually, Rain Man. Yeah, weird but it so works. Antonia is brilliant, she is probably one of the smartest people on the planet, and in so being is sometimes incapacitated by her brilliance. She is a a member of the Red Queen project who are the smartest of the smart and catch the worst of the worst. Antonia's superior is the enigmatic, Mentor.

After a personal trauma that has left her husband in a coma, Antonia has refused to work in quite awhile, but not for lack of Mentor trying.
Enter disgraced, gay, police investigator, Jon Gutierrez. He's a big guy with a heart of gold who has made a mess of his career trying to protect a prostitute. Mentor throws him a lifeline. All of the mess can go away if he can get Antonia to work again.
What starts is an unlikely pairing of the two investigating a shocking crime scene of a ritualistic murder and the subsequent kidnapping of one of Spain's wealthiest men's daughters, who will become a victim herself if her father doesn't do as the creepy Ezekiel has asked, something that he just can't bring himself to do.

There are twists and turns and surprises, and great chemistry between two unlikely people. Red queen is everything a thriller should be.

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Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells ( Murderbot #7)

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Murderbot is the best. I envy those of you who have not discovered Martha Wells and this cool series.
In Fugitive Telemetry, we have a good old murder mystery. Secunit (aka Murderbot) is still on Preservation protecting Mensah when a murder occurs. As no one trusts Murderbots, the Security Services look askance at SecUnit, but eventually warm to it and use its services.
A fun fun little book..

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Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson ( Malazan #2)

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The stunning breadth and depth of Erickson’s creation is on display here. He paints a massive canvas of characters and peoples that is mind blowing.
Onto book 3!

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Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson ( Malazan #1)

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have looked at this book for years.. but never quite gave it a chance.. Now, after finishing it I wonder why I waited so long.. Martin and Jordan have nothing on Erickson.. huge world building, a massive cast of characters, well drawn engaging protagonists and a history of his work that is staggering.
This is not a tra-la-la fiddle dee dee book. It’s dark and brutal and just plain awesome in so many ways. The magic systems rock and the dialogue just sings.
What happens when an empress is hell bent on conquering everything in her path and is willing to go to any lengths to do it.. ? It’s usually the everyday people who get crushed.. but they can also be heroes.
Just give it a go. You will be glad you did.

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The Runaway by Nick Petrie ( Peter Ash #7)

The Runaway by Nick Petrie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are very few authors, especially in the thriller genre, who can keep a consistently stellar level. Nick Petrie and his Peter Ash series is one of these gems.
The writing is crisp, the characters leap off the page and the action is non stop.
In The Runaway, we meet Helene. A beautiful young woman living in very rural Montana who has no family, a dead end job at the Gas & Go and a sleazy boss who also happens to be a Sheriff.
In the middle of another deadly, boring night at the Gas & Go. A truck pulls in with a ruggedly handsome man, Roy along with his partner.
Roy is nice to Helene and in a spur of the moment decision, Helene decides to get away from her life and joins the two men. A decision that will end up having dire consequences.
The novel begins with the backstory of Helene and her travels with Roy. She soon finds out that this is a big mistake, but only after she sees first hand the real Roy.
Months later, pregnant and on the run again, she meets Peter.
Peter tries to help her but Roy is well organized and connected and will not let Helene go, even if that means Peter has to die.
What follows is one of Petrie's best books to date. We still have June and Lewis along for the ride, but this story is all Helene's and Peter's and what a story it is.
Do not miss this one!

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The Match by Harlan Coben ( Wilde #2)

The Match by Harlan Coben
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Harlan Coben rocks and Wilde is one of his best creations ever.
Wilde, The Boy from the Woods, stars again in The Match.
Picking up where TBftW left off, but a few months later, we follow Wilde as he tries to find out where he came from and who may be family.
After a DNA website sends him a message from a potential relative, named PB, Wilde also discovers who my be his father.
Even more strange is the elusive PB.. who turns out to be a huge reality TV star whose star has fallen.
Throw in the seamy side of reality tv, a visit from an earlier Coben book The Stranger, greedy people, FBI agents and a killing spree and you can’t put it down.
We still have all of favorites, Hester, Matthew. Oren and Wilde’s lovable adopted sister and your have a great book.

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The Gatekeeper by James Byrne (Dez Limerick #1)

The Gatekeeper by James Byrne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC. This is not a paid review..
This book was awesome! A great new series to look forward to! Dez Limerick is the man!

Dez is a Gatekeeper.. which as he explains means he opens doors.. all kinds of doors, very covert doors at times. He also has skills that raise him a bit above those around him.

While taking a break from gatekeeping, he goes to California to play bass in a band for a bit.
But being a gatekeeper he notices things. Like all the makings of a kidnap attempt to a very high profile woman in his hotel. Being a gentleman, he has to help.

Asked by the woman, Petra Alexandris, chief legal counsel to Triton Industries as well as the owners daughter to find out what is going on, Dez uncovers a diabolical plot that will not only affect her company but the USA as we know it.

Great characters, fantastic language and the engaging Dez make this a must read for any thriller fan.

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Dark Horse by Gregg Hurwitz ( Orphan X #7)

Dark Horse by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A special thank you to Net Galley for the ARC.
It does not get any better than Evan Smoak (Orphan X). The joy about this series is the growth in the character. X is a complicated man to say the least. But, you really could not expect anything less from the way he was raised. But, it is a joy to see a writer of Hurwitz caliber stretch what is the most dynamic character in thriller fiction.
After, the cliffhanger ending of book #6, Prodigal Son, it has been a tense year waiting to find out what is going on..
In Dark Horse, Hurwitz puts X in the most dangerous mission of his prolific career. He is asked by a cartel leader to rescue his daughter from a brutal, rival cartel. X, after taking stock and meeting the man asking for his help is surprised at the person he meets. He decides to help by infiltrating the rival cartel. What he finds there is a brutal, unhinged psychopath and an army of sicarios and fighters. He also finds something he never expected. Which almost does the operation in before he can begin it.

Added to this dilemma, back at home his love interest Mia finds out she has a serious medical condition which could mean her death and leave her little boy Peter motherless and well as fatherless. Throw into the mix tension with his adoptive niece Joey, and X has to figure out what it means to be family and just where caring and love can lead.

Fantastic book ! If you haven't read this series buy Orphan X today and get going. Every book of the 7 is better than the last. I savored this book even though I could have read it in a weekend.

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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers #1)

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had heard a lot about this series and it did not disappoint. Becky Chambers has done a remarkable job of creating characters and a large galactic star system complete with planets and aliens and their customs.
This book was fun, but not fluffy. There was great depth to the crew about the Wayfarer. The Wayfarer is a tunneling ship which basically punches holes in space by creating black holes that people can travel large distances through.
A job comes up that will set them up for a long time, but it is possibly dangerous and will take some time. The complexity of the crew cannot be overstated and the only way to do them justice is to read this yourself. You will be hooked fast and I think thoroughly enjoy book one of what appears to be a great series.

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The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought this book over a year ago just because I really love epic fantasy. I'm not the biggest dragon fan, but love the world building, etc..
In June , I saw an article gave suggestions. If you love Game of Thrones, Read this. So, I gave it a shot.
It was good, it kept me reading. The world building was good. The story never bogged down. It was worth the time.
Of course, as with most fantasy or science fiction of our day, there has to be the obligatory LGBTQ trope. This author according to her bio identifies as "queer", so keep that in mind.
But, a very good book with a lot of action and great character building. I just mention the other because I have friends who like to know those things up front.

Would love to see a sequel.

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