The Spy House by Matthew Dunn ( Spycatcher #5)

The Spy House by Matthew Dunn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have said this before but, it needs to be said again. There is a handful of thriller writers writing today that tell a dang good story, entertain us and also are good writers. Matthew Dunn is one of them. His Spycatcher series is a wonderful series that deserves wider attention. It will happen. As long as readers keep telling people about Dunn and his wonderful character Will Cochrane.

The Spy House is no different. Except this time, Dunn pushes Cochrane to his limits emotionally. There is much death to people important to Will in this book and it serves to make the Cochrane character even richer.

In TSH, Cochrane, now on his own after the events of Dark Spies, is recruited to solve a mystery that seemingly has no answer and unless it is solved will lead to war between Israel and Hamas. How do four men die violently in a secure and locked room with no apparent breach of the structure? One of these men was very close to Will and is being cast as the villain who killed the others and was killed himself in the process. A scenario that Cochrane refuses to believe.

Add to the mix a Palestinian boy, an assassin for hire and an Israeli agent looking for revenge along with the mysterious Thales who is intent on destroying Cochrane and fomenting War in the process and you have a book that is very hard to put down.

Do yourself a favor. Pick up Spycatcher and get started with this series. If you can find a first edition hardcover, do so. In 1998, a first book came out from an author named Lee Child,Killing Floor, which blew me away. That hardcover sold only a few thousand. It's worth quite a bit today! It took years for people to discover Jack Reacher. I think that Matthew Dunn will be in Child's league before too long.

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Deadline by John Sandford (Virgil Flowers #8)

Deadline by John Sandford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Virgil Flowers is one of John Sandford's best creations. With this 8th outing, Virgil is in full Virgil mode. When he comes in contact with dog nappers, meth manufacturers, and a crazy, embezzling school board that has no qualms on killing people it can get pretty crazy. But, Virgil takes it all in stride. The Flowers character is not a superman but gets things done his own way. He is like his superior, Lucas Davenport in that he gets results, but in a very unconventional way. As with the Prey books, Minnesota is on full display. Having lived there for a time, it is very enjoyable to read about places you have been and recognize.
If you haven't read the Flowers series, pick up "Dark of the Moon", and start right now. Go!

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Gathering Prey by John Sandford (Lucas Davenport #25)

Gathering Prey by John Sandford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I started reading John Sandford in 1989 when I picked up a book called Rules of Prey. It sounded fascinating and it was and I was instantly a fan of Lucas Davenport. It has been a fun 26 years and awesome to watch Davenport grow and mature and rise to his current status as a bigwig in the BCA in Minnesota.
Gathering Prey is awesome. It seems that Sandford and Davenport are getting better and better. In this the 25th outing, Davenport and his adopted daughter Letty are involved with Travelers (people with no ties or jobs who randomly travel the country), Juggalos ( followers of the Insane Clown Posse) and some very bad men and women who travel between the two groups.
Everything that Sandford writes is addictive. His stellar Virgil Flowers series is also a winner. Somehow he keeps it fresh. This book is no exception. It also appears that with Letty, a new series might not be far off.
The best thing about the Prey novels is that Davenport is not perfect, and that evil sometimes wins, just as in real life. And the character of the state of Minnesota is on full display. Along with William Kent Krueger, Sandford makes full use of the people and places of the rugged beauty that becomes part of the story as well.
If you have read Sandford, you don't need any other urging. If you haven't I am jealous. Pick up Rules of Prey and begin the ride of your life. You HAVE to read them in order.

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Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb (Farseer #3)

Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Robin Hobb is a master storyteller. The three books that make up the Farseer trilogy were very well done and had such a depth to them that you feel as if you know these characters and are present in the story.
Book 3 follows our hero Fitz as he seeks to find his King who has been gone searching for the mythical Elderlings. In hope of acquiring their aid to combat the Red Raiders that have been terrorizing the Six Duchies. There is depth to this story and the lives of all concerned. Fitz, Verity, Kettle, Nighteyes, Starling, Fool and Kettricken all with their strengths and weaknesses and motivations. If you have never read Robin Hobb, this is the best place to start. After you have finished you will be very glad that there are more wonderful books from this talented writer, including more about Fitz and the Fool!
All I can say is enjoy!!

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Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb (Farseer #2)

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As many of you know I read a lot of books at the same time and I am a pretty fast reader. That is until I came in contact with Robin Hobb and the amazing Farseer series. There are not words to describe just how good this series is and how wonderful a writer Hobb is. She forces me to slow down and savor every word and scene.
Royal Assassin, second in the Farseer trilogy was amazing. I am saddened that it took me this long to discover the richness that these stories are imbued with. The characters have become family and the history and peoples of the Six Duchies are as real as our own. There is power in this kind of storytelling.

Royal Assassin opens immediately after the events of Assassin's Apprentice. Fitz, is a shadow of who he was before and must return to Buckkeep and resume his life under the shadow of the treacherous Prince Regal. RA is full of plots and counterplots, love and laughter and many ideas on what one's word means as well as what it ultimately means to be oneself. Heavy stuff wrapped in an engrossing story that takes us to a shocking conclusion.

I really do not like spoilers in reviews. Just trust me. If you haven't read Robin Hobb, begin today. Pick up Assassin's Apprentice and enter a fantastic adventure that you will not want to end.

Then let's talk about it. I love to share ideas and points of view in reading.



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Sleeping Giants!!! You have to read this book by Sylvain Neuvel!!

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an advance reader copy of Sleeping Giants on the 12th and started reading it that night to see how it was. I finished it last night. Needless to say I could not put this book down. Sylvain Neuvel has created a compulsive novel that I was sad to see end. But, what an ending! I am very glad there will be more, but really sad to have to wait two years for the next book.

The story is told through a series of interviews, journal entries and various other official reports. The majority of the book are the interviews with a very enigmatic Interviewer whose identity we are never told and whose motivation and authority we can only guess at. But he is quite fascinating and it appears quite powerful.

The book begins with an 11 year old girl in South Dakota, riding her new bike into the woods after her birthday party. She sees a strange turquoise glow below her in the trees and investigates. She ends up falling and the next thing she knows she is laying on her back looking up the hill at her father and firemen who are trying to get to her from the hole she is in. She is rescued but all of her questions about what happened are dismissed by her parents. It seems no one wants to talk about it. Until one day when she is visited by one of the firemen who rescued her. He had taken some pictures of the accident and thought she would like to see them. She sees a picture of herself lying on her back in the hole, on the palm of a giant metal hand.

You can see now why I kept reading. 17 years later, the girl is now Dr. Rose Franklin and is put in charge of just what the hand is and why it was there by our Interviewer. Suffice it to say that there is more than one hand buried on the earth, and it will be up to Rose and her team to find the rest of the body parts that make up a very large metal person.

This book is to good to spoil and I think that this may be enough to convince you that this would be well worth your time. I can see this being a huge besteller and the start of a new phenomenom like Hunger Games or Harry Potter. Or it should be.

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The Eternal World by Christopher Farnsworth

The Eternal World: A Novel by Christopher Farnsworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was the first book by Christopher Farnsworth that I have read. I know my good friend, Jason Frost loves this guy and has been a big fan since his first book, Blood Oath. The Eternal World was great fun! Imagine almost 500 year old conquistadors heading a billion dollar biotech company which is trying to reformulate the water from the Fountain of Youth which they are running out of. A brilliant young researcher who just might pull it off and a beautiful native woman whose great mistake was saving the life of one of the conquistadors with the Water those many years ago and is now seeking the deaths of those responsible for murdering her whole clan and stealing the Water.
The novel weaves a fast paced and compelling story about one of the most enduring myths of this continent. Farnsworth seamlessly handles the modern day story with flashbacks to the arrival of the Spanish in Florida and their brutal treatment of the indigenous people.
The book has a wonderfully exciting and satisfying conclusion, but I would recommend it for readers 18 and up due to language and adult content.

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