Location, Location, Damnation by Nick Moseley

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Content: Strong Language (the British variety)



Working as an estate agent in the town of Brackenford isn’t the hardest job in the world – just ask Trev Irwin. He knows the market inside out, house prices are steady, and the only competition in the office is Barry, who has all the wit and charm of a mouth ulcer.

But there are other forces at work in Brackenford besides the unquenchable desire of grannies to buy bungalows, as Trev discovers when he witnesses a shadowy entity possess a man in a local café. A man who goes straight home and murders his wife and her lover. With a cricket bat.


This book series caught my eye when I saw it was part of a buddy read. I was particularly interested in it because it promised to be humorous and I'm always looking for a book that can make me laugh. I could also have possibly been drawn to it because we just happen to have our house on the market right now and have been looking for a new one for quite a few months. It was an interesting coincidence that this book features real estate agents, or estate agents, as they are called in England.

Fortunately, this book had me laughing immediately. I loved all the snarky sarcasm. I was interested in the story right away as well. Unfortunately the story itself lost some steam somewhere in the middle. It was still fun but not as entertaining as I was hoping it would be, but I have heard that the series gets better so I'll stick it out for the next book.

The things I liked best about the book was the snarky, sarcastic humor; the characters Oscar (Because who doesn't love a talking cat?); and Agatha. I hope they continue to be featured prominently in the series.

Shamed by Linda Castillo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong Language


An Amish grandmother is murdered on an abandoned farm, her seven year old granddaughter abducted. Chief of Police Kate Burkholder plunges headlong into a case that quickly becomes a race against the clock.

The investigation takes Kate to an isolated Old Order Amish settlement along the river in southern Ohio. At first, the community seems upstanding and helpful. But when Kate starts asking questions, they stonewall her—and the situation soon becomes dangerous. What are they hiding and why?

This was a good installment in the series. I debated giving it 3.5 stars because I thought the characters were dumbed down a little to keep the mystery going. It was actually very easy to figure out, but I left it at 4 stars because Kate wasn't nearly as reckless as she normally is. Of course, she also had a lot of help this time around as well. Tomasetti was in on most of the investigation, as well as the local sheriff and the police department from another county. I wasn't crazy about the way the book ends without any clear knowledge of whether or not someone did something they were suspected of doing. That being said, I still enjoyed the book, and the way everything else was wrapped up.

Compared to most of the other books in the series this book focuses mostly on the mystery and much less on the personal issues and lives of the characters. That wasn't a bad thing since a lot of the personal issues have been ironed out at this point. There was less personal interaction between Kate and Tomasetti, but at the same time he seemed more supportive and less worried about her. That was most likely due to the fact that he had nothing to worry about, since Kate wasn't being her normal reckless self. Kate, in general, has become a very likeable character as this series has progressed and I continue to look forward to reading about her and Tomasetti, and everyone else in Painter's Mill.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Christian Fiction
Genre: Historical Romance, Mystery
Content: Clean



Three years into the Great War, England’s greatest asset is their intelligence network—field agents risking their lives to gather information, and codebreakers able to crack every German telegram. Margot De Wilde thrives in the environment of the secretive Room 40, where she spends her days deciphering intercepted messages. But when her world is turned upside down by an unexpected loss, for the first time in her life numbers aren’t enough.

Drake Elton returns wounded from the field, followed by an enemy that just won’t give up. He’s smitten quickly by the too-intelligent Margot, but how to convince a girl who lives entirely in her mind that sometimes life’s answers lie in the heart?

I've enjoyed Roseanna M. White's other books and was looking forward to starting this new series, and while I enjoyed this book as well, I didn't like it as much as the others I've read. First I'll mention that, as usual with this author's books, I did like the historical setting, and the way the author weaves in real historical events and figures into her stories. Also, if you read the Shadows Over England series then you will recognize the main character and several others. I liked that we got another glimpse of Lucas and Willa among a few others.

While I liked Margot I did find that I had a hard time relating to her at times because she thought so much in numbers, which is definitely not my thing. I did however find the code breaking interesting. I liked the love interest Drake a lot, but I felt like the romance was a bit flat. I think that was a lot because of Margot's personality.

The mystery aspect of the book was ok, but it didn't really keep me on the edge of my seat or anything. The lack of romance and the so-so mystery resulted in me being a bit bored at times. Because this author usually does a really good job keeping me interested, I'm not giving up on this series just yet, but I'm also not thrilled that the next book features a character that I didn't care too much for in this one. Hopefully he has a really good redemption story.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy
Content: Strong Language


It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

I still love Murderbot, even though I thought this book wasn't quite as good as the first one. That could have just been because I listened to the whole thing instead of sitting down and reading it. Sometimes I do have a harder time connecting to a story that way. But I was able to listen to this complete book on a 2 hour drive home so it was the perfect book for today.

In this book Murderbot ends up having to physically alter itself to look more human so it won't be recognized, and it isn't happy about it one bit.

“It was the logical choice, it was the obvious choice, and I would still rather peel my human skin off than do it. I was going to have to do it.”

  I continue to get a kick out of Murderbot's aversion to humans in general, and to its more "human" side. That side is a lot more human than it wants to be, but Murderbot's evolution is what's really the best thing about this series so far.

Recursion by Blake Crouch

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Strong Language

 
Memory makes reality.

That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

Neuroscientist Helena Smith already understands the power of memory. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious moments of our pasts.

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

After reading Dark Matter by Blake Crouch I was looking forward to this book, but I ended up not enjoying this one as much. I think part of the problem is the repetition. And yes, I'm aware that a book titled Recursion is going to have a lot of repetition, and I was prepared for that, but it still got a little old two thirds of the way into the book. I think maybe part of the reason it got old was because it took the main characters until the end of the book to figure out the solution, a solution that seemed rather obvious to me. I also predicted who was going to have to do it.

That being said, this was a good, thought provoking book. Blake Crouch has a way of writing characters that I don't necessarily like a lot, or feel very attached to, but I'm still able to root for them anyway. His stories are mind bending to say the least, and I recommend giving them a try if you enjoy books with time travel elements, or alternate realities.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this book.

June 2019 Book Club: All Systems Red

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Strong Language



On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

I've had this on my to-read list for a long time and had pretty high expectations after seeing all the glowing reviews. The story was surprisingly lighter than I thought it would be. That didn't really disappoint me, I was just thinking it was going to be darker in tone. I ended up loving Murderbot. It was at times very amusing to see things from its perspective, and I really liked the sometimes awkward interactions between it and the humans in the story. The fact that it spent a good bit of time bingeing TV shows was also very amusing.

"I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or so since then, with still not much murdering, but probably, I don’t know, a little under 35,000 hours of movies, serials, books, plays, and music consumed. As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure."

 

This was our book club book for May and there was some debate about whether Murderbot is a "he" or a "she" most people thought it was a female. Although I was leaning slightly toward male in the beginning, I think mainly because of the audio book narrator, in the end I think Murderbot seems pretty androgynous. I also doubt it would call itself male or female since the thought of being human is a horrible thought to our dear SecUnit.

If you are looking for a quick sci-fi read, then look no further.

Arkadian Skies by Lindsay Buroker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Space Opera
Content: Strong Language, Off page sex, with little description


 
This was another enjoyable read in the series, but I'm disappointed that there is very little forward movement as far as the plot goes. As a friend of mine said, this series seems to be written like one long book and we aren't going to see those things resolved until the end. My only other complaints are that, in this book and the one before it, Alisa comes off as rather juvenile with her obsession over wanting to consummate her relationship with Leonidas. The jokes, innuendo, and inner dialog are funny to a point, but the author has taken it too far. It's old now and Alisa needs to grow up and stop pressuring Leonidas to do something that he can't do. I do however, very much enjoy the chemistry between the two characters. I also feel like Mica's character is underutilized and she has just turned into more of a grump than a pessimist. Other than those things I still love the witty banter between characters, and I'm looking forward to reading the last two books in the series.