Category Archives: Thriller

Book Review, Thriller, 2 Treasure Boxes, Suspence, Public Library, Goodreads

Dead by Midnight by Beverly Barton

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This entry is part [part not set] of 1 in the series Dead by Trilogy (Griffin Powell)
Book Review

Book Review for Dead by Midnight: 2 Treasure Boxes
Dead by Trilogy #1
Griffin Powell #11
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listening Length: 15 hours and 34 minutes (384 pages), ASIN: B005HBKTG2

The actors that once starred in a porno movie are systematically being murdered in Dead by Midnight. Lorie, one of the actors, has for the past nine years regretted making this movie. Since returning home, she has been living a good life, despite her childhood sweetheart who is unable to forgive her past mistakes. But now that her life is threatened, her ex-finance, who is also the sheriff, is determined to see she remains safe, despite his feelings.

Beverly Barton, who past away April 2011, wrote over 80 novels in both the romance and suspense genres and a number of series including: The Protectors, Griffin Powell / The Powell Agency, and The Cherokee Pointe Trilogy. Dead by Midnight is a Griffin Powell novel and it is also the first book in the Dead by Trilogy. This book is a thriller, suspense and romance. There are also several graphic sex scenes. The story is told in a third person narrative from the point of view of several different characters, including the murderer, but primarily from that of the main protagonist, Lorie.

Initially, there were a lot of different characters and it took me a while to get everyone straight, but once I did I really started to enjoy the story. This book revolves around the porno industry, and it shows how porno can hurt people and families. It is good to bring some attention to the porno industry because in our current environment 12% of websites are pornographic and 25% of all internet searches revolve around porn.1 I thought the story helped to bring some awareness to this without becoming preachy.

There were several layers to this story, with numerous killers or would be killers running around. A couple of the storylines came to a full conclusion, but the one surrounding The Powell Agency did not. The story was told fairly well, and kept the identity of the murderer pretty well hidden until the end. Enough clues were released to enable me to guess who it was before the reveal, and I liked that a couple of red herrings were thrown in as well, so it was not completely transparent. The Griffin Powell Agency played a minor role throughout the story, but I have a feeling the next book is going to be centered more on the people from this group.

This is the first Griffin Powell novel that I have read, even though it is the 11th book in this series, and yet I did not feel like I was in the middle of a series. The main story line can stand on its own, and came to a good conclusion, but the secondary story line did not. Since this is the first of the Dead by Trilogy, I probably will read the next book, Dead by Morning.  I have not read the previous 10 books in the Griffin Powell series and probably won’t. I recommend this book as a good read, especially if you enjoy a suspenseful romance that includes some hot sex scenes.

To Purchase: “Dead By Midnight” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

1 http://www.onlinemba.com/blog/stats-on-internet-pornography/
1 FREE Audiobook RISK-FREE from Audible

Goodreads, Book Review, 3 Treasure Boxes, Thriller, Kindle

Never Smile at Strangers by Jennifer Minar-Jaynes

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Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes
Publisher: Inkbug Media (November 16, 2011), Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, File Size: 452 KB, Print Length: 330 pages, ASIN: B0068RVK2Q

How is a young abused boy and a missing, wild and reckless young woman related? “Never Smile at Strangers” shows the reaction of a small town when a young woman disappears and outlines the derailment of an abused boy as he grows into manhood.

This is the first novel Jennifer Minar-Jaynes has published and it is a thriller/suspense.  The story is primarily told in a third person narrative from the point of view of a number of the characters.

The story was captivating from the first page, and I was interested to see where it was going and how it would end. There are several interesting characters that the novel centers around, and each of their journeys are cleverly woven together. Most of the characters were well rounded and the reader can understand the choices that were made. There were also some exciting scenes. Erica was one of my favourite characters; I found her character both likeable and fascinating.

This standalone story that is skillfully drafted, includes a great conclusion, and I recommend it as a very good read.

To Purchase: “Never Smile at Strangers” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

Goodreads, Book Review, 3 Treasure Boxes, Thriller, Kindle

Through the Third Eye by Lynn Boston

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This entry is part [part not set] of 1 in the series Third Eye Trilogy

Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes
First Book in the Third Eye Trilogy
Publisher: Lynn Boston Books (July 31, 2011), Format: Kindle Edition, File Size: 423 KB, ASIN: B005FFTI30

A new talent has been discovered, how to find famous historical souls who are incarnated today and regress them to discover their secrets. Part of the process is to stimulate the third eye to aid in obtaining information. But someone does not want this hidden knowledge to be revealed and will stop at nothing to keep the world in ignorance.
Through the Third Eye is the first book published by Lynn Boston, it is also the first book in the Third Eye Trilogy and it is a thriller. The story is told in a third person narrative primarily from the point of view of the two main characters: Shali and Clay.

This was a compelling book with an original concept. I was intrigued and captivated from the first page. I really liked how Mr. Boston reflected the historical souls. He relived the lives of people such as: Abraham and Mohammad, just to mention a few, showing what their lives were really like, opposed to what history said they were like. Of course this is all fiction, but still fascinating, using plenty of imagination. The regression process has been well thought out and is well explained in the book.

There was plenty of action and a number of shocking scenes, but the story did not really come to any kind of conclusion at the end of the book. I am anxiously waiting for the next book in the series to see where the story is going and what is going to happen next. I highly recommend this book and if you liked the Da Vinci Code, then you will love Through the Third Eye.

 My favourite quote from the book: “The objective of the session is hypnosis and regression of the subject to previous lives. This will be followed by attempted transition to the life between lives realm for interaction with the soul.”

 Question to Ponder: Do we reincarnate after death, do we go onto a different dimension or do we just turn into dust?

To Purchase: “Through the Third Eye” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

Thriller, Goodreads, Book Review

Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

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This entry is part [part not set] of 1 in the series Jack Morgan Series

Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes
Jack Morgan Series, Book 1
Audible Audio Edition
Publisher: Hachette Audio (June 28, 2010), Listening Length: 7 hour(s) and 3 min, (416 pages), ASIN: B003VXNCBW

Private is a detective agency, so not surprisingly there are three story lines running at the same time all revolving around different cases. Throw into the mix Jack Morgan’s personal life and you have an interesting story.

Private is told in the third person narrative from the various different characters, with the main protagonist being Jack Morgan, the owner of Private, a very high end PI firm. James Patterson co-wrote this book with Maxine Paetro, but some people suspect that Mr Patterson did little of the writing, I am not familiar with his work, since this is the first book of his that I have read, but I did enjoy the story.

The beginning of this book really caught my attention.  I liked the introduction of the main character Jack Morgan and I liked how his story unfolded. At times I thought the story was disjointed and jumped around too much and I had difficulty following all the characters, but overall I enjoyed the book. Each separate case that the firm was working on was intriguing.  I liked how the clues were slowly revealed and then followed upon.

This is a standalone story which came to a satisfying ending. I enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series to see what Jack is going to get up to next.
To buy: “Private” from Amazon, click here or on picture above

 

Thriller, 2 Treasure Boxes, In Library, Goodreads

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

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Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes
The Second Robert Langdon Book                  
Publisher: Doubleday April 2003, Hardcover: 454 pages, ISBN-10: 0552159719, ISBN-13: 978-0552159715

Robert Langdon, a famous symbologist is brought into a gruesome murder scene as the prime suspect.  With a little help from a smart and pretty French cryptologist he is able to escape, and is then forced to solve the riddle left by the murder victim which will prove his innocence.

This is the second book written by Dan Brown with Robert Langdon as the protagonist.  Each book is stand alone and can be read in any order.  All the books including this one are in the thriller genre. The story is told in a third person narrative and focuses primarily on Robert Langdon, but at times we are given insight into some of the other players, including the culprits.  It is really interesting to read about the antagonists and what drives them.

This book follows Robert and Sophie around as they try to solve the mystery of why the victim was murdered and what was the meaning of the his final convoluted message? During this steady build to the final climax there are several exciting parts with a surprising twist thrown in as well. It is interesting to read about the brotherhood and the secret it is protecting. The story was intriguing as it unfolded, and it keeps us tuned in since we do not where the book is going or what it is trying to solve.  We quickly learn that the victim was murdered because he had a coveted, valuable secret, the location of a keystone which uncovers details about the Holy Grail. However, he was so determined to protect this secret that he died for it, but he did not want the secret to die with him, nor did he want it released to his murderer.  So instead, he left behind a series of clues which will eventually uncover this valuable knowledge.

I liked the writing and I found it to be interesting.  The book brings forward many points about religion and the bible.  It makes me wonder if these things are true or not.  Like, was Mary Magdalin meant to carry on Jesus’ church instead of Peter?  Did the church completely obliterate the sacred female? Many people feel that most of the information relayed in this book is bunk.  But this too, makes the books premise interesting.  However  I felt like some of the writing was like a school lesson. I also found that some of the technical descriptions and discussions went on too long and were verbose. But overall I thought the story was original, captivating and well written. I particularly liked the character development of all the characters, I really felt like I knew them all well by the end of the book. The chase throughout the book to solve the puzzle was fun to follow as it flowed up and up to the final conclusion.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading a good thriller, just be prepared to slog through some of the more drawn-out portions which deal with the holy grail. Although most of these wordy parts did also disclose an interesting and unique look at what happened or what could have happened.  However, if you are a strong church person you may be upset by how the church is portrayed throughout this book.

3 Treasure Boxes, Thriller, Goodreads

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

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Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes
The Third Robert Langdon book
Publisher: Anchor; Reprint edition (October 19, 2010),Paperback: 656 pages, ISBN-10: 1400079144, ISBN-13: 978-1400079148

The story centres around our favourite symbologist, Robert Langdon and quickly jumps into intrigue. He must solve a riddle concerning the Masons and a hidden portal in Washington, D.C.  The answer will leads to ancient magical wisdom, which can elevate man to the realm of the gods.

This is an exciting story and it includes a good heart stopping escape scene where  Katherine Solomon, the scientist escapes from Mal’akh, the main antagonist.  The characters were all interesting, from the crazy bad guy, the attractive middle-aged lady scientist and her brother to the government people all running around trying to solve this newest dilemma.

I really enjoyed this book, it was unpredictable, plus there was a surprising twist in the story. Mr. Brown kept us guessing right up to the end which was exciting and came to a great conclusion.

I enjoyed the references in the book to the power of the mind and the scientific proof that is out there which proves that the mind can control energy, which is something that I have always believed in. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it as a good read.

To Purchase: “The Lost Symbol” from Amazon, click here or on picture above