Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A couple free Kindle books

I noticed that a couple of my favorite books were free for Kindle download, so I wanted to share.

The Pawn by Steven James [5 stars]
Saying I love this series would probably be an understatement. This is the first book in the Patrick Bowers Files.

The Pawn is about an FBI agent Patrick Bowers who is an environmental criminologist who tracks down violent offenders. Bowers, who is still trying to deal with his wife's recent death as well as the resulting estrangement from his step-daughter, is called in to Asheville, NC, where young women's corpses are turning up. The killer's MO is to leave a chess piece and tie a yellow ribbon in his victim’s hair.
Bower's must piece together each of the murders as his techniques are put to the test.

This is not a good series to read if you are frightened easily, and don't like 'creepier' stuff. If you can handle true crime, thrillers and the likes, you will love this.

Do NOT read this series out of order!

I love how the author, Steven James, is able to put together such an intricate plot and keep you interested as well as guessing what's going to happen next.



The Stones Cry Out by Sibella Giorello [3.5]
This is the first book in the Raleigh Harmon Series. Raleigh Harmon is an FBI agent in Virginia. Two men plummet from a roof to the sidewalk below. A crowd is gathered nearby, but no one saw anything. Or are they not talking?
The victims are a white police officer and a young black man with a troubled past.

Raleigh Harmon is called in to solve the case and the Bureau wants the case solved, with or without the truth. Raleigh must rely on her training as a forensic geologist to solve the case.

I read the second book in this series first, not realizing this was the first book. I didn't like this book too much, but I love the ones after it. Maybe because in the second book Raleigh is back to her hometown in Seattle, which is where i'm from ;) but I thought that story was better. (The Rivers Run Dry)
Anyways, as a free download, it's a good read.



And for $0.89 you can download this book:
Forsaken by James David Jordan [4.5 stars]

When Simon Mason, the world’s best-known televangelist, begins receiving threats from Muslim terrorists, he hires former Secret Service agent Taylor Pasbury, for protection.
Taylor is excited to receive the high-profile assignment, but Simon Mason knows more about her than she thinks. And, when terrorists strike, making unspeakable demands of the pastor, Taylor draws on all of her training to save Simon and his daughter.


Great read, I only wish the author had more than just two books in this series. Definitely worth the $0.89!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Dead Reckoning by Ronie Kendig [4 stars]

Dead Reckoning is about underwater archeologist Shiloh Blake who is on her first large scale archeological dig. While underwater, one of her teammates is shot and killed and her partner, Khalid, is severely injured. Suddenly Shiloh finds herself in the middle of an international nuclear arms conflict. She escapes, only to be followed by a mysterious man. Is he good? Or bad? And how is he always one step ahead of her?

Meet Reece Jaxon, former Navy SEAL turned spy. His mission is threatened by Shiloh as he tries to hunt down the sources to a nuclear dead drop in the Arabian Sea. The only way to prevent a nuclear meltdown is for Shiloh and Reece to work together.
Shiloh is skeptical of Reece, considering her own estranged father is a spy and who she holds responsible for her mother's death. There is only one way to stop the nuclear meltdown, but will Shiloh trust Reece enough to do it?


This is Ronie Kendig's first book, (it is not part of the Discarded Heros series.)

I really enjoyed this book, even though I like the Discarded Heroes books better, if I had read this first I probably would have rated it higher ;) But this is still a great read!

The spy part of the story was really interesting and fun to read. I really liked toward the middle of the book when Shiloh and Reece were in Paris and 'meeting' each of their contacts.
Not that I know anything about being a spy and how 'accurate' this book is, everything seemed right. Not over the top or exaggerated.


I really liked this quote: "Fear drives us to do things we'd never contemplate in a right state of mind."


The book is set in India and I would have liked to have read more description of the sights, especially while Shiloh was diving. I think it would have added a whole new layer to the story.
And there were a couple of parts where I was left wondering what exactly happened, (such as Shiloh being held hostage sometime in the past and something being tested on her to cause her medical condition.)
But otherwise this is a great read! I would highly recommend anything Ronie Kendig has written. She is easily a favorite author of mine and I enjoy her writing and how she so easily writes a fast-paced, action packed novel with some not-over-the-top romance thrown in.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren [3.5 Stars]

-This review contains minor spoilers-
Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren is about two teen girls, Gabi and Lia Betarrini, who are able to travel to fourteenth century Italy. In this book, Gabi and Lia, who have been able to control their time travel, return to modern times with their mom to save their dad from his tragic death. Back in medieval Italy, the girls have to deal with wars, imprisonment, kidnapping, and forced marriage, as well as the threat of the black plague.
(This is the third book in the River of Time series. The first book is Waterfall and the second is Cascade)

I found this book (Well, the series) to be a little cheesy. The first book was a free Kindle download, and it sounded pretty interesting, two time traveling girls? Might be good.
-I had trouble relating to the characters. They seemed a little too perfect. There just wasn't any conflict between the main characters. Not that I want a lot of arguing or anything, but a little disagreement or something would have made a big difference to me. I guess I just didn't feel very connected to them
-The black plague is talked about on the back cover of the book, making you think it's going to play a major role in the story, but it's only mentioned. I wish that plot line would have been used, it would have made for a more interesting read.
-I found it a little hard to believe that Gabi and Lia so easily gave up every modern convince to stay in the fourteenth century. I think I would be missing things like, oh, I don't know, the internet, decent shoes, and being able to wear jeans ;). They didn't seem to have much trouble giving all that up. That and the idea they so easily integrated into medieval society. But then again, things might be different if I were madly in love, which brings me to my next point...
-I really got that Gabi and Marcello were in love. I did. It was made abundantly clear. the author went a little overboard on all the romance stuff. Luckily, it is a Christian book, so the content was clean! BUT, I am not a mushy romantic, I like more conflict and suspense between characters. Like how coughRonieKendigcough writes. So maybe I'm not the best judge of that.
What I did like:
-I liked that the author wrote from first person point-of-view. So many authors write from third person, it was nice to read something a little different. 
-The concept of time travel is neat, which was what interested me when I first read the summary of the book. It was different and that's what I was looking for.
-And the whole Italy and knights thing was pretty cool. Again, not what I normally read so it was good for something out of the
ordinary.
-And I really could feel the authors passion for Italy. You could tell she put a lot of research into these books when it came to Italy and that time period.

Overall, this is a good, light read. Not something you have to put a lot of thought into or stay up late reading.
This is a great series for the 13-16 year old crowd, which is what it's marketed for anyways.

Monday, December 5, 2011

There You'll Find Me by Jenny B Jones [4.5 Stars]

There You'll Find Me is about high school senior Finley Sinclair who travels to Ireland as a foreign exchange student in the wake of her brothers death. Armed with her brothers journal, she plans to see Ireland the way he saw it. All she wants is some answers and to finish her college audition piece for the Manhattan Music Conservatory.

Nothing goes as planned, when, on the plane ride to Ireland, she ends up sitting next to Beckett Rush, teen heartthrob and bad boy, who's starring in the latest vampire movie.

Although she seems to be immune to Beckett's charm, he ropes her into being his personal assistant in exchange for being her tour guide. But once in Ireland, Finley begins to loose her cool. The pressure of school, her brothers death, and finishing her audition piece begin to be too much for her. Finley takes drastic measures to try to get her life back under control. She has to learn to give her past to God and see if there's any hope for her future.

I don't read much YA anymore, but Jenny B Jones has always been a great author. I've read all of her books,(check them out here), including a kind of prequel, Save The Date, which is about Finley's older brother. 

I really liked Finley, she's smart and funny, the kind of girl you wish was your friend. But she's also got another side, where she struggles with an eating disorder and depression. 

All of the characters in this book are amazing, funny and interesting and with different layers so not everyone is quite as they seem. Such as Mrs. Sweeney, the elderly lady Finley is assigned to as a school project.

This is a GREAT book, one not just teens would enjoy. But I warn you, you will really want to visit Ireland after reading this book!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig [5 Stars]

For my first book review, I'm going to do the last book I finished, which was Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig. Ronie Kendig is easily one of my favorite authors. I downloaded Digitalis (which is the second book in the Discarded Heros series) as a free Kindle download and I loved it! (The first book in the series is Nightshade)So I was excited to see there was going to be FOUR books in the series! Wolfsbane, the third book, did not disappoint.

Wolfsbane is about Dani Roark, a demolitions expert who travels to Venezuela with the Army Corps of Engineers. Her team is captured and she's held captive for six months. She escapes, only to return to the U.S. and be tried with espionage. To clear her name, she returns to Venezuela with Canyon "Midas" Metcalfe, a former Green Beret and medic and the rest of the Nightshade team. Canyon is battling his own demons and new nightmares are added once they reach Venezuela.  
There are many twists and turns I never saw coming! Which is saying a lot coming from me! I really, really enjoyed this book. One thing I really like about Ronie Kendig's writing is that she gets into the heads of BOTH characters, it's interesting to read from the mans point-of-view instead of always the girls'. The characters are believable and real, you can feel Dani's pain as she recounts the horror of her captivity, and the things Canyon is dealing with.
This is a christian book, and themes such as forgiveness and God's grace are discussed.

This book has a perfect mix of suspense, adventure and romance. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone!