Book Reviews – Page 4 – AlbinoTree.Net: Whisky (and book) reviews

Book review: Weakest Lynx

Fiona Quinn mixes authentic, nuts & bolts thriller with paranormal and romance.

I need to preface this review with a level set on the target demographic, which in this case, is the female reader who is comfortable with her feminine character being a hard-charging hero who still capable of nurturing and love. Because that’s Lexi.

This is definitely a genre-crosser: dominantly thriller (cloak and dagger escapade and tension) with a strong female lead, with a generous dollop of paranormal and a healthy thread of romance. I was getting the latter part as soon as the romantic entanglement was introduced and the MC (first-person) started describing that guy. Definitely ‘female gaze’ oriented. Which is fine — I have read a few full-strength romance novels to get an idea what the Romance genre is about (those sell, so are worth studying!) and in this case, the romantic angle is worked in very delicately. But not my first pick in a theme for my books.

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Book review: In Midnight’s Silence

In Midnight's Silence -- Frohock delivers her characteristic moody vision — In Midnight’s Silence — Frohock delivers her characteristic moody vision

This first-of-three novella dives straight into the deep end, immersing the reader in a different time for Earth (pre-WWII Spain) and a different (paranormal) social structure, with politics, power grabs, and factions which use heavy-handed, even brutal tactics against even their own allies. Frohock gets the majority of this scene-setting done in the first two chapters, which is remarkable, as by this time the plot is in full swing, the MC is under pressure to rescue his lover and at the same time, frustrated by his own history tripping him up both directly (in the form of a secret which now must be revealed) and and indirectly (via another person who will be dear to him and presumably traded off the other).

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Book Review: Clean Burn

Clean Burn by Karen Sandler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, for you VI Warshawsky fans, there is another woman walking in the noir aisle of your local bookstore. Sandler’s Janelle Watkins is darker, more flawed (physically as well as emotionally) than VI, and Sandler milks the genre for all the grittiness and darkness such a character allows. The presentation of the story is interesting as Sandler mixes in first-person with third-person peeks at the antagonist, which she does with a flair that reminds me of early Stephen King (think Dead Zone). For most of the book, Sandler throws enough dust in the readers eyes to keep us guessing, and I enjoyed the tension both in the buildup to climax as well as the romantic tension between a couple of characters (which she handles well, no cringing here). In the end the plot ties itself together a bit more niftily than I expected but there are twists enough to satisfy anyone (such as this reviewer) who has enjoyed Spade, Marlowe, and yes, even Poirot 🙂

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Book Review: Double Cross: The Tue Story of the D-Day Spies

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben Macintyre
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Double-cross promises a long scorecard of unusual characters in a trying–and dangerous–game, spying for Britain in WW2. It delivers, both in the selection of outsized personalities and a build of the stories which is clear and engaging. Ben proceeds at a steady pace right to the end of the book, lingering on each personality and their adventures in turn. The individuals involved are shown in the context of an overall arc, the grand deception that led to D-Day. Although I had read much of that time, from diverse histories such as The Rommel Papers, I never knew what a part the British intelligence service played in that success of the Allied landing. Also, I found the denouement quite interesting and fulfilling, as MacIntyre presents the fates of his subjects in detail.

Although I appreciate MacIntyre’s focus, I would have liked more texture about the British minders. There is less about the spymasters than the spies; more detail of the MI5 crew’s day-to-day lives, and indeed some description of setting would have been welcomed. Did they all work in the same building? Share coffee? Did they have class differences or were they a homogenous group? But that would have made the book longer. We have to assume MacIntyre provided as much detail as he had.

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Book Review: The Lives of Tao

The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the Lives and thought the premise, of long-lived non-corporeal beings which could survive long-term on Earth only by inhabiting human host bodies, intriguing and presented in a way which is as believable as it can get. I appreciated the way Wesley worked in limitations of these beings: they need to retain their new host-bodies, they can last only so long outside, if the host’s death is under certain circumstances, the parasite/superbeing passes. His action and pace was generally good, though at time I felt it flagged a little, or there were periods which I felt were not as well fleshed out as they could be. I had trouble identifying with some of the characters at times – most likely there is more backstory to this which could have deepened the conflict and brought the reader into the story with more conviction. Overall, a very good airplane book – a bit like a supernatural James Bond adventure at times, light enough yet intriguing enough you can do it in distracting circumstances.

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