For September I plan on reading 6 books. My in person book club got canceled in July, so Mickey7 got pushed to this month. As I said last month, I've already read that one and won't be doing a reread. Also, I'll be reading A Trade of Blood this month since I didn't have time to get to it in July.
Reading for NetGalley-
Scion by James Islington
John Wick meets Blade Runner in this fast-paced cyberpunk thriller by the #1 NYT bestselling author of The Will of the Many.
My
job, when you think about it, isn’t so different from a lot of
people’s. I have to deal with a ton of boring planning. Inconvenient
hours. Some pretty awkward face-to-face interactions. And like most of
us, I’m really only clocking in to try and crawl out from beneath my
debts.
The more old-fashioned crowd do still get hung up on the
‘killing people’ part, I guess, but that’s a them problem: it’s been
perfectly legal to take out lifers for ages. Besides, once ultrawealthy
morons realised they had a way to live forever—limited resources be
damned—there was only ever going to be one genuinely practical
deterrent. So someone’s got to do it.
And luckily, my genetic compatibilities make me really, really good at it.
Still.
This next job… I don’t know. It’s something I haven’t had to deal with
in years. Kind of the opposite of my regular duties. Strange, that it
got thrown my way.
I’m sure it’ll all go totally fine though.
A Trade of Blood (Shadow of the Leviathan / Anna and Din Mysteries #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett
In the canton of Sapirdad, two of the Empire’s
most powerful families are moments away from going to war with each
other, their hundreds of retainers gathered with swords drawn. If blood
is spilt, the whole of the empire may be plunged into starvation and
chaos.
To de-escalate matters, someone must do the impossible:
prove that one family’s eldest son is innocent of a gruesome and
unforgivable murder, despite the incontrovertible evidence against him.
It
is with this undertaking that the great detective Ana Dolabra is
tasked, her assistant Din at her side—and the two find themselves racing
with great speed and little dignity to the scene.
As ever, the
impossible proves little obstacle for the deadly combination of Ana’s
intellect and Din’s keen eye, and mere hours after riding into the dusty
town, Ana glimpses the greater pattern behind the crime. A deeper,
subtler web of death is being woven in plain sight, by a mastermind with
an ancient magical technology at his disposal.
But even Ana's
uncanny insight is of little use when each new suspect she uncovers ends
up dead--with each new killing calculated to bring tensions between the
two rival clans past the boiling point. And as Din pursues their
adversary through the canton's wild ranges, sprawling ranches, and
reeking slaughterhouses, he finds his loyalties divided in unexpected
ways.
Reading with The Mystery Book Club-
The Bravest Hour (Verity Kent #9) by Anna Lee Huber
British Intelligence Agent Verity Kent
managed to survive four years of The Great War, slipping in and out of
German-occupied Belgium and northeastern France, dodging serious
consequences or capture. But as she faces her most dangerous—and
devastating—challenge yet, her luck may have run out. Hopefully, her
resilience has not . . .
November 1920. Dublin, Ireland. Verity’s
efforts to foil a contemptible plot by the traitorous Lord Ardmore and
save countless lives—as well as the British government’s reputation—has
exposed her to detrimental scrutiny, bringing her contact with the Irish
rebels to light. Crushingly, she finds herself incarcerated in Dublin
Castle, the “Dread Bastille,” where she must withstand interrogation
from her own countrymen.
Despite her circumstances, Verity knows
better than to talk—though decrying Ardmore to his face would be more
than satisfying. For once again he has escaped culpability, scapegoating
his associates. Her only hope is intervention from her shadowy
superior. And yet, when rescue finally comes, Verity finds herself
changed by what she has endured, perhaps for the worst.
Still,
there’s no time for respite or healing. Ardmore’s latest nefarious
objectives go beyond mere treason. Allegiances are shifting as the war
between the Irish Republican Army and the British reaches a new fever
pitch. If Ardmore is to be brought down, Verity and her husband, Sidney,
must gather all the allies they can for one last stand.
But just
when victory seems assured, one shocking and vicious turn of events
changes everything. Now Verity must decide where her loyalty lies. And
it may not be on the same side as the man she’s loved to the grave and
back.
Guilty Acts (Cass Leary #9) by Robin James
A murder committed in front of a million online viewers.
Everyone clicked. Watched. Commented. Shared.
No one intervened.
Desperate
for fame and fortune, there’s never been a get-rich-quick scheme
housewife Juliet Clay hasn’t chased. When she finally goes viral selling
diet shakes, she figures all her dreams have come true. But when her
husband ends up dead from poison, Juliet’s dreams become a nightmare and
she’s the prime murder suspect.
A sucker for lost causes,
Defense Attorney Cass Leary takes the case to pay forward a favor she
owes. Though Cass soon learns this case is more hopeless than most.
Juliet made more enemies than friends in town and publicly threatened to
kill her husband. Twice. The physical evidence draws a direct line to
Juliet as well.
All of Cass’ instincts tell her Juliet might be
innocent. The woman is way too smart to act that guilty. Cass becomes
convinced the police haven’t dug deep enough. But that alone won’t carry
the day in court.
Now it’s up to Cass to expose the truth and stand up to a killer. Even if it’s her next client....
Pick it for me book-
The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden
A gripping and atmospheric debut that is at once a chilling gothic mystery and a love letter to Victorian fiction.
Nobody ever goes to Hartwood Hall. Folks say it's cursed...
It's 1852 and Margaret Lennox, a young widow, attempts to
escape the shadows of her past by taking a position as governess to an
only child, Louis, at an isolated country house in the west of England.
But
Margaret soon starts to feel that something isn't quite right. There
are strange figures in the dark, tensions between servants, and an
abandoned east wing. Even stranger is the local gossip surrounding Mrs.
Eversham, Louis's widowed mother, who is deeply distrusted in the
village.
Lonely and unsure whom to trust, Margaret finds
distraction in a forbidden relationship with the gardener, Paul. But as
Margaret's history threatens to catch up with her, it isn't long before
she learns the truth behind the secrets of Hartwood Hall.
Reading at Fantasy Buddy Reads-
Brothers in Arms (Dragonlance: The Raistlin Chronicles #2) by Margaret Weis and Don Perrin
The Innocence of Youth Lost in War
In the
fiery siege of the city of Hope's End the young mage Raistlin must leave
behind his ideals to save himself and his brother. Yet as Raistlin and
Caramon train as mercenaries, far away another soul is forged in the
heat of battle. Another path is chosen, and a future dragon highlord
begins her rise to power.
She is Kitiara Uth Matar, the twins' half sister.
