The year in review

It's been a year since I started this blog.  I say that I read 100 books a year, but I only list those books on this blog that I have 100% completed, and this year that number was 77.  I actually read at least another 100 books but I don't finish them for one reason or another; sometimes they're just not very good, sometimes I lose interest, sometimes I stop for no real reason.  But easily I read 100 book's worth of pages this year.  I just don't post them on the blog unless I finish them.  So here's to year two and another 100 books; hope you enjoy it.

Never Tell by Lisa Gardner

This was an excellent book.  I had never read any of the D. D. Warren series of novels (of which this is the latest of seven I believe) and really did not know what to expect.  I had read one of her books before and really liked it so I thought I would give this one a try.

Evie is married to a traveling salesman who locks his office while he is away on trips, and so she wonders what he is hiding.  She's suspicious.  But she is shocked when she comes home and finds her husband shot to death with his own gun.  Mysteriously, she picks up the gun and shoots his computer and then is caught by the police red-handed with a murder weapon.  In comes Detective D. D. Warren, a full-bodied, well-drawn character, to investigate the death.  Turns out Evie killed her father under suspicious circumstances and is the prime suspect in her husband's death.

The plot, of course, is much more complicated than that; it has twists and turns, and I have to admit I could hardly put this book down.  The writing is superior, the plot devious, the characters compelling.  If you like a good mystery/thriller this is a book for you.  Highly recommended. 5/5 stars.

The Bitterroots by C. J. Box

This was a really good book.  I read the prequel, Badlands, and I have always felt that that book was one of Box's best efforts and his finest of all.  The protagonist, Cassie Sewell, a deputy in an oil-boom town of North Dakota, battles the "lizard king," a trucker who kidnaps, rapes, and murders truck stop prostitutes.  It's a particularly good book because of the richness of Cassie's character; a female cop in a man's world, widowed, struggling to bring up her son with her mother's help.

The Biitteroots shows us Cassie a year or two later after she quit her job and moved to Bozeman, Montana.  She becomes a private investigator and the beginning of the book shows us her in action against a bail-jumper.  She is called in by a fierce woman lawyer who has to defend an accused rapist.  Cassie is disgusted with the man who appears obviously guilty, yet she agrees to investigate the case.  Once she arrives in the mountainous backwater of Western Montana she runs afoul of the local rancher and his family who more or less dominate the politics and economy of the area.  I won't go into detail, but Cassie is clearly abused by these ranchers in an effort to hide the truth of the case from her.  She has too overcome and find the truth of the crime.

C. J. Box is a well-known writer with a lot of fans, but I don't think he has written a better book than The Bitterroots.  I could not put this book down as I was fascinated and generally fearful for Cassie even up to the end of the book.  There are a number of excellent plot twists and salty Montana characters to hold the reader's interest.  I highly recommend this book; read it you won't be sorry.  5/5 Stars.

Backlash by Brad Thor

In ancient texts, there are stories about men who struck from the shadows, seemingly beyond the reach of death itself. These men were considered part angel, part demon. Their loyalty was to their families, their friends, and their kings. You crossed these men at your peril. And once crossed, there was no crossing back.

They were fearless; men of honor who have been known throughout history by different names: Spartan, Viking, Samurai.

Today, men like these still strike from the shadows. They are highly prized intelligence agents, military operatives, and assassins.

One man is all three.

Two days ago, that man was crossed—badly.

Now, far from home and surrounded by his enemy, Scot Harvath must battle his way out.

With no support, no cavalry coming, and no one even aware of where he is, it will take everything he has ever learned to survive.

But survival isn’t enough. Harvath wants revenge.

In the most explosive novel Brad Thor has ever written, page after captivating page of action, intrigue, loyalty, and betrayal will keep you hooked until the very last sentence.

A gripping good thriller...5/5 stars.