Whole Pieces by Ronie Kendig
(info of book from Tyndale)
After a brutal attack left him without a limb and his team dead, former Green Beret Haytham "Hawk" Wilson is angry at life and God. Bitter, he pushes everyone out of his life. Every day he relives his decision to send teh Afgan boy home rather than following orders to kill any who came upon his hidden team. So when on his deathbed at age 36, eaten alive by grief and regret, he's offered the chance to relive any seven hours. Hawk is determined to go back, kill the boy, and save his team. The decision is simple...until he gets there.
The clock is ticking. What will he do with the time left?
There are 7 books in the 7 hours series. (I've only read this book.) The whole concept of choosing 7 hours to relive is kind of a neat. I'm not really a fan of supernatural/fantasy type stuff; but this was good. It adds a whole new level of emotional turmoil to the character since he knows the outcome of his decision. He has to weigh every decision he makes, agonizing over what could happen.
I love Ronie Kendig's writing, and I think she could write just about anything. She has a way of writing and making you feel like you're right there (which is kind of scary in some situations!) But I really enjoyed this story, it's short, won't take too long to read, and definitely worth the $2.99!
On another note, isn't the cover awesome?!?!
This book is $2.99 and available for Kindle only. Or PDF version HERE
The Chase by DiAnn Mills
To the FBI, it's a cold case. To Kariss Walker, it's the case that could change her writing career.
Five years ago, an unidentified little girl was found starved to death behind a Houston apartment complex. A news anchor at the time, Kariss reported on the case.
Today, Kariss, a New York Times Bestselling author, plans to turn the unsolved case into a suspense novel. With the help of an FBI friend, Kariss is assigned to Special Agent Tigo Harris, who later gets the case reopened.
Tigo isn't thrilled with the idea of becoming a 'babysitter'. Considering he's deep in the middle of a gun running case against a powerful Houston gang.
The search for the dead girls' missing mother gets both the characters in over their heads as they try to figure out what happened. Will they be able to find the murderer and close the case?
This wasn't a real great book to me. The characters weren't too interesting. Especially Kariss, I'm not really a fan of reporter types. They're all the same, make stupid decisions, get themselves in trouble, and magically get themselves out of trouble. It's hard to feel sorry for someone who makes dumb decisions. (You go into a bad part of town by yourself, what do you think is going to happen?) She was very hard to like and I didn't feel much of a connection with her.
Tigo was better, there was a little more depth to him.
I figured out some of the plot twists, especially toward the end, totally saw that coming.
The story was a little too predictable for me.
I liked the idea of the story though, and I admired Kariss's hunger for justice and was glad with the outcome. I just felt there was more that could have been done with the story.
Cuts Like A Kinfe by M.K. Gilroy
Detective Kristen Conner, the newest detective with the Chicago PD, is after a ruthless serial killer dubbed The Cutter Shark. The killer targets young women with successful careers.
Kristen is a tough girl, she grew up in a cop's home and takes intense hand-to-hand combat training.
Faith and family are important to Kristen. She coaches her 7-year old niece Kendra's soccer team, The Snowflakes, she always shows up to family dinners, and almost never misses church.
But things get crazy when she's assigned to the Cutter Shark case. Kristin is a good cop, but she's never faced anything like this before. Will she be able to stop the Cutter Shark before he kills again?
I really liked this book! Kristin, the main character, is pretty cool. She's tough, funny, and not too girly, so I identified well with her ;)
I liked that Kristin struggled some with her faith and didn't come across as too perfect or preachy. She has anger problems, but tries hard to overcome them. I felt like I really got to 'know' the characters.
I never lost interest and was left guessing who the killer was until the very end! Which is a great feat if you ask me, because I'm not too easy to fool ;)
This book is very well written, realistic, and relatable. I can't wait until the next book!
Hazardous Duty by Christy Barritt is a free Kindle download! I reviewed the third book, Organized Grime, HERE.Hazardous Duty is the first book in the Squeaky Clean Mystery Series. It follows Gaby St. Claire, a girl who dropped out of college to start her own crime scene cleaning business.
Gaby is on a routine cleaning job when she discovers something the police missed...the murder weapon. And she soon realizes the police have the wrong person in jail. Gaby begins to feel ignored by the people working on the case, so she decides to figure it out herself. Can she stop the killer before he kills someone else?
This is a fun read, even though it's about a crime scene cleaner, it's not icky or gory on the details. The characters are fun and interesting. This is a great read! And it's free, so who can complain?
The Swiss Courier by Tricia Goyer
It's August 1944, Germany has recovered from the attempt on Hitler's life and the Gestapo is rounding up suspected enemies of the Third Reich.
Gabi Mueller is a young Swiss-American working in the translation pool at the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS)(Forerunner to the CIA)
Gabi is happy to do her part, but longs to have more of an impact on the war effort. She's thrilled when she's recruited by her supervisor for an undercover operation. Being a spy is dangerous and once in Germany, carrying a Swiss passport does not guarantee safety if something goes wrong.
Joseph Engel is a German physicist tasked with working on the atomic bomb. The German government and military are pressuring Joseph and his researchers to produce a 'miracle weapon' to turn the tide of the war in Germany's favor.
But things go terribly wrong when a Gestapo officer discovers something about Engel's past not even he knew about, and suddenly he's a wanted man.
Gabi is soon tasked with couriering Joseph Engel out of Germany and to safety. The task won't be easy and it will take all of her courage to avoid the Gestapo.
I don't normally read historical fiction, I find it boring, but the World War II era is interesting and a story about a female spy during that time sounded especially fascinating.
I really liked Gabi, I thought she was a good, strong character. All the characters were well-rounded and interesting.
There were some twists I didn't see coming, which were cool.
It was interesting to read the different perspectives of the American's, Swiss, and Germans during the war.
I thought this book did a good job of bringing history to life.
The book I'm reading right now is taking me a long time to get through, so instead of not posting at all, I thought I would share some of my favorite book series!
The To Catch A thief series by Jill Elizabeth Nelson includes the books Reluctant Burglar, Reluctant Runaway, and Reluctant Smuggler.
The series is about security consultant Desiree Jacobs and FBI Agent Tony Lucano.
The first book, Reluctant Burglar-Desiree Jacobs father has been murdered and now the security company becomes her responsibility. But when she finds a container of stolen paintings, she finds out the truth, her father was a thief. She can turn the paintings over to the law, disgracing her father’s name, embarrass museums around the world with the fact they've been displaying forgeries and destroy the company’s name, or, turn the art over to the bad guys and her father’s murderer walks free.
But when she receives a death threat, she has to decide whether or not to trust her rival, Tony Lucano, for help and protection.
I really like this series; I've read the books twice. The characters and plot are interesting. This series has a good mix of mystery, suspense, and romance. Some parts are a little predictable, but the plot is interesting enough to keep you reading.
Overall, a great series if you enjoy mysteries!
