Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo ( Alex Stern #1)

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many books in the last few years have been touted as "Harry Potter for adults", but I think Ninth House is the closest I have seen. It is gritty, dark, magical and pretty dang cool.
Leigh Bardugo the highly popular creator of the YA Grishaverse, shows here that she is a writer who can write for anyone.
Ninth House takes place at modern day Yale.. I know at first you are like, yawn, wake me up when it's over. But, once you read the first sentence, you realize that this Yale is way different , more spooky and mysterious than you have imagined.
Ninth House is about a young women named Galaxy Stern or Alex. She has been brought to Yale because she can see things others cannot. Namely, dead people or Grays. You see, at Yale there are a bunch of secret societies that deal with various magical and occult properties and they have some very famous alumni, George W. Bush, Jodie Foster, Anderson Cooper and others. The 8 Houses are watched or policed by Lethe House. Lethe are the caretakers, making sure that nothing goes wrong or the houses abuse their power.
There is magic here. Not only in Bardugo's writing, but in the magic system that sheb has built using these real locales.
Alex arrives at Yale fresh from some pretty horrible stuff in California to be trained as Lethe's new "Dante". Her "Virgil", Darlington, (Daniel Arlington) the previous Dante is to train her, so that one day he can take his place and train another in her stead. There is an "Ovid" named Dawes who supports them and helps with any knowledge they might need, and a "Centurion" who is an investigator with the police department. One who doesn't believe in magic or what he is there in case something happens that involves harm to the outside world.

Well. something happens. A town girl is found murdered on the grounds of Yale and it is up to Alex to find out why and if the Houses are involved. There are wonderful and eerie surprises in this book, which you need to discover on your own. But, Alex's journey is a hard one with turmoil and death on all sides, not to mention some pretty badass magic that gets directed at her.

Pick this up. You will enjoy it, but be warned this isn't a young adult book and Bardugo's characters have scars, lusts and colorful language galore.

View all my reviews

The Magic of Recluce by L E Modesitt ( The Saga of Recluce #1)

The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have had the first 7 or 8 of this series on my bookshelf since 2000. All first editions and signed at a book signing I had LE Modesitt at. And never read them.
Finally got the itch to start. Glad I did. I am still a little confused about reading order and chronological order but I'll go with what the author says. Read in published order.
The Magic of Recluce is really good and the authors magic system is new and interesting for a change. The story concerns Lerris a resident in Recluce is bored with all the order and perfection. As such, not knowing what he wants he is given two choices. Exile or Dangergeld. He chooses the latter and is shipped if to neighboring Candar where it isnt so perfect and too he needs to undertake a journey.
In Modesitt's magic system there is order which is black and chaos which is white. Very involved but makes a lot of sense.
Lerris learns much and comes to an understanding of of who and what he is in a very readable take.
Onto The Towers of Sunset!






View all my reviews

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff ( The Nevernight Chronicle #2)

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Godsgrave is a true work of art! Godsgrave picks up 8 months after the closing events of Nevernight and we discover Mia has a new destination, the Collegium.

One thing I loved about Nevernight was the storytelling and Kristoff keeps it up. The book itself is split into 3 parts and I absolutely love how part 1 tells the story of here we are now but let me also tell you how we got to now, this is told through flashbacks. To me it is never hard to follow the past and present story lines because each one is very unique. I also love how the flashbacks do not overstay their welcome, it has a precise story line and ends.

As for the present story and plot, Godsgrave amps up all the action and drama by 100. Kristoff writes some of the best action scenes ever, period. They are gripping, exhilarating, and downright gruesome. Every action scene is vivid and well detailed and that is all thanks to Kristoff's incredible writing style.

Now the plot stays it's course from Nevernight, we are still after those that ruined Mia's life, however we now join a Collegium rather then a school for assassin's. Man did I love the Collegium in this book! The new characters were all fleshed out, some likeable some not so likeable. However I do have to tell myself when it comes to Jay Kristoff books I really need to not get so attached to the characters because well you will just have to read the book to find out. The new characters add a fresh new feel to the book to the point that we get to see a more softer side to Mia that we really didn't get to see in the first book, so I appreciated that. Seeing a softer side to Mia really showed some great character development and there definitely was quite a bit of character development throughout this book. The Collegium is also where we get to see all the action take place. Like I said before these action sequences were epic. They all weren't the same either and what I mean by that is, we didn't have just big blood bath battles. Like a true Colosseum in Rome, their were games, chariot races, and of course blood baths.

View all my reviews

Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff ( Nevernight Chronicle #3)

Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What can I say about this series. I am so sad that it has come to an end. Raunchy, wonderful, crude and addictive. Definitely not for the faint of heart. But what a creation. Mia Corvere and all of the others are simply brilliant characters that you care for and root for and yes, cry for. With the lush world building that resembles ancient Rome and Venice, with their various locales, are just astounding. If you like your fantasy dark and gritty and full of angst and wonder; pick up Nevernight and start the adventure.

View all my reviews

The Russian by Ben Coes ( Rob Tacoma #1)

The Russian by Ben Coes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ben Coes is one of the best thriller writers going today and with this new series, starring one of his regular characters from the Dewey Andreas book, the future is bright. This was fun, at some points it bordered on the incredible, but still fun. Let's put it this way. I don't think even Jack Reacher would stand a chance against Rob Tacoma.
Plus with an ending that promises more, we will have to see what's next for Calibrisi, Katie, Rob and Dewey.

View all my reviews

Into the Fire by Gregg Hurwitz (Orphan X, #5)

Into the Fire by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Long live Evan Smoak! After Orphan X's last adventure it left one wondering where author Gregg Hurwitz had left to go. But, it just goes to show that Hurwitz is much more clever than I.
Orphan X #5 is REALLY good. But, could this actually be the last mission for X? He seems to be moving that way and as his fans we sincerely hope not.
In Into the Fire, X is considering hanging it up after one more Nowhere Man mission and much internal dialogue to the point on what it would be like to be "normal".
With that, Evan receives the now normal call to help from someone who is already running from those trying to kill him. Max Merriweather is a down on his luck guy who promised his older brother that he would deliver a package to a lawyer if anything ever happened to him. With the older brother's death by torture, Max starts the quest to fulfill an obligation only to be chased and almost killed. Not knowing where to turn, while running he runs into the last X helpee and is given THE number to contact the Nowhere Man. In his typical fashion, X handles the problem fairly quickly, but it seems that that there are others involved and much to Evan's surprise and consternation, each head killed sprouts two more. Knowing that Max will never be safe until the job is completely done, Evan forgers ahead into some of his most harrowing experiences yet. Add the reliable standby's of Mia, Peter, and Joey not to mention a new addition Dog, and you are in for a wild ride.

View all my reviews

A Dangerous Man by Robert Crais (Elvis Cole, #18; Joe Pike, #7)

A Dangerous Man by Robert Crais
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Elvis Lives!
I have been reading Robert Crais for over 20 years now. I have told hundreds of people about him, Elvis Cole and Pike. These are consistently great in every way and when a new Pike or Elvis book comes out, make time because you won't want to put it down.
A Dangerous man is no different. There is everything you would want from this book. Great characters, humor and tremendous action scenes. Bad cowboys, lowlife thugs, the Witness Protection Program, Federal Marshall's and of course one dangerous man in Pike.
The story begins on a normal day after Pike does an errand at his bank. Moments after finishing, the young bank teller leaves for lunch only to be kidnapped in broad daylight with no on noticing.. except Pike.
Pike saves her and a chain of events occurs that no one could see coming. With the help of the intrepid Elvis Cole, Pike and Elvis unravel a 20 year old mystery and in the process meet some bad dudes. But, none can hold a candle to Pike.

If you haven't discovered these books, pick up The Monkey's Raincoat and start! Now! Today! and read them in order.. You will love these books.

View all my reviews